The Girl Next Door
by OldGregg55
Summary: Peridot is an introverted nerd who usually spends her time alone playing video games unless she's at school. However, when she accidentally locks herself out of her house in the middle of a thunder storm, she has to get help from her neighbor. A cute Lapidot human AU that I'm hoping to go really far with.
1. Chapter 1

The blaring sound of an alarm clock shot through the cold, dark morning. Groaning could be heard accompanied by the rustling of blankets before the alarm was harshly turned off. A tired, slightly irritated teen slowly sat up and ran a hand through her light, yellow blonde hair. She assumed it looked awful considering that if there was a slight breeze outside, her hair would stick out in all sorts of directions, sort of like a triangle. She glanced at her clock and grabbed her glasses off the nightstand. Didn't really help to look at a clock if you couldn't see anything.

6:00 exactly. She hated having to get up so early to walk to school but she lived a little ways out of town and the buses didn't come out this far to get her to school on time and her mom didn't have time to drive her there with her nursing job. Her hours were so sporadic it was hard to catch a reliable ride with her. And whenever she was home in the morning, she was too tired to get up. It was understandable, but still irritating to get up that early.

The girl reluctantly got out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. As soon as she turned on the light she stumbled backwards at the brightness. Her eyes hasn't adjusted yet.

"Come on, Peridot, wake up." she whispered to herself as she splashed a bit of cool water on her face. She supposed it wasn't the best idea to stay up until 1 in the morning playing a video game, but it was an addictive game and she needed to beat just one more level - no. Can't think about that now or she'll feel the urge to play it right now and end up late.

Peridot shuffled out of the bathroom and into her bedroom, switching on the light and going through her dresser for clothes. She decided on a simple pair of black jeans and a green t-shirt with little yellow diamonds on it. It wasn't the most attractive outfit in the world, but it was comfortable.

After getting dressed and (somewhat) fixing her hair, she decided to skip breakfast. She never felt very hungry in the mornings, she preferred to wait until later in the morning to eat. She threw a dark green sweater over her head, grabbed her backpack and phone and headed out the door. She thought about leaving a note for her mom in case she came home before she did, but she decided against it. Her mom probably wouldn't even find it being so tired and emotionally drained after helping screaming people in pain all day. With that lovely thought on her mind, she stepped off the porch and started walking up her long stone driveway to the road.

* * *

The walk to school was pretty uneventful. Just the usual stuff that happened, happened. She walked. And walked. And stopped to pet a cat. And continued walking. However, school itself had plenty in store for her. As soon as she was on school grounds she was almost tackled to the ground by a rather rambunctious and husky girl.

"Peridot! My man, how are you today?" She heard as she was pulled into a hug by a pair of strong arms.

"Good morning, Jasper." Peridot said, pushing on her chest to avoid being crushed by her best friend's muscular yet squishy chest. She wasn't exactly mad at her friend, more like annoyed by the fact she was almost squashed on the ground by a 6 foot tall, 180 pound girl on the school wrestling team. Peridot wouldn't call herself weak, but let's just say playing video games all day and coding on her laptop didn't exactly make her strong either. "Please get off me now?"

"Oh, sorry." Jasper released her and stepped back a few inches as if simply being to close to the 5'2 girl would crush her. "You should really buff yourself up. You weigh what, 50 pounds?"

"103." Peridot corrected as if it made a difference. "And I'll pass. I belong locked in a room with a super computer, not super human death machines like you."

"Aw, thanks, you're sweet. I think I messed up your hair."

"What?" Peridot felt her head and could feel little spikes poking out in every which direction. She sighed and slapped her hands against her thighs. "Its not like it was really that tame in the first place."

Before Jasper could say anything, they both turned to the sound of someone calling to them. They saw a short girl running towards them, her long black hair pulled back into a ponytail, bouncing as she ran. Behind her, a slim, much more graceful girl followed behind her at a normal pace. With her long dancers legs it was easy for her to keep up with the shorter girl without much effort.

"Yo, waddup bitches!" Amethyst called as she came closer to them. Despite being abnormally short for a teenager, being only 4'9, she was quite attractive. She had a plump figure with beautiful long black hair that reached to the back of her knees when it was down. It bounced almost as if it was happy whenever she walked and she always had the faint smell of grapes around her.

"Amethyst, you shouldn't use that kind of language at school. Or really ever. It's so obscene." said Pearl coming up behind her. Pearl was basically the opposite of Amethyst, being tall and slender with a cute pixie cut that framed her face nicely with its curls. Pearl's light blue eyes shone brightly and could mesmerize anyone with her gaze. Of course, every time anyone brought these up to Pearl she would blush and avoid looking at anyone.

"Lighten up, Pearl." Said Jasper. "I think you've been hanging out with your nephew too much. He's turning you into a mom."

Amethyst laughed while Pearl puffed up her cheeks in irritation.

"At least Steven knows how to conduct himself in social situations. You could take a few lessons from him."

Everyone, including Peridot, laughed at this. They weren't laughing so much at Pearl, so much as the fact that Pearl cared so deeply for him. They all thought it was sweet the way she talked about him. Steven had lost his mom in a car accident a few months ago and his dad had a mental break down over it. Pearl's mother agreed to take care of Steven while his dad recovered and Pearl was absolutely in love with him. Even Pearl occasionally laughed at how much she would prattle on about him. This was one of those times.

The bell rang and everyone groaned about having to split up to go to their classes. Jasper and Amethyst walked together to P.E., and Pearl and Peridot made their way to Math.

"I hate days when Math period is first. Do they really expect students to take on such a complex class early in the morning? You know I read an article about how the average adolescent brain doesn't fully start to function until 10:00 am. They should really put an easier class first, like English..."

Peridot chuckled to herself as she listened to her friend ramble on about something useless again. It was nice to have someone like Pearl around, especially when you were pretty bad with conversation. They made their way to Math, and did their usual routine as always.

* * *

"Oh my god, finally! I thought this day would never end!" Amethyst cried as she came out of her last class of the day. Today, the last period was science, something Amethyst hated. Peridot thought science was pretty interesting, although she agreed with Amethyst that she was glad it was finally over. Their science teacher was currently pregnant and had random mood swings. Seriously, they should put her on maternity leave.

"It wasn't that bad." said another girl with light blonde hair. Sapphire put a hand on Amethyst's shoulder to calm her but Amethyst brushed her off.

"Pssh, please. It was like Godzilla 2 in there."

"Alright you two, be quiet." Cut in Peridot. "I gotta get home so I can finish my game. Let's go find Pearl and Jasper so they can babysit Amethyst for me."

"Pearl couldn't handle me even if she tried." Amethyst retorted. "Steven may be an adorable angel but I'm faster than sonic."

Sapphire laughed. "I have to go catch up with Ruby. She promised we would watch a movie together and I'm holding her that promise. I'll see you both tomorrow!"

Peridot watched as Sapphire walked away so gracefully it was like she was floating. Everyone in the school was aware of Sapphire and Ruby's relationship. They were so close it was like they shared a mind and body. They've been together since middle school but Peridot couldn't understand why they were so open about their relationship. True, people were more accepting these days but there was still some ridicule. Peridot didn't think she would be keep a relationship of her own secret, but she wouldn't be so open about it like Sapphire and Ruby.

While thinking about this, she had absently followed Amethyst to the front of the school to look for Pearl. Peridot looked around and saw Pearl walking towards them with a notebook in her hand as she scribbled some notes down. She wasn't even looking where she was going. Peridot was tempted to stick her foot out and trip her, but Pearl would probably throw a fit so she kept her foot where it was.

"Peridot, do you have a partner to work on your English paper? I don't have anyone yet and if I don't get paired with you I'll be stuck that weird kid who has those giant holes in his ears." Pearl said not even looking up from her notes.

"I suppose if I REALLY have to be partners with you." Peridot said jokingly.

"Excellent," Pearl said tapping her pencil to her lips. "Also Amethyst, about that-"

She was interrupted by the sound of honking and a car approaching them. Pearl finally looked up and waved to the person driving.

"Hi, Pearl." Called her mother out the window. "Steven couldn't wait for you to get home so I brought him along with me."

"Wonderful!" Said Pearl, stuffing her notebook into her bag. "You guys want to see him?"

"Aw yeah!" Cried Amethyst as she rushed to the car door and threw it open to grab Steven. "Hey there little buddy!"

Peridot made her way over to Steven and Amethyst. Being an only child, she wasn't used to small children. She liked Steven but not when his nose was all gross and runny or when his hands were sticky. "Hello, Steven." She said with a slight smile.

"Amteh! Dot!" Shouted Steven with his limited vocabulary. Even though he was 4 he still had trouble pronouncing some words. Amethyst spun him around and rather carelessly threw him on her shoulders.

"Be careful! He's still little!" Chastised Pearl putting her hands on her hips.

"Nah, dude. Steven's a little trooper!" Amethyst said as Steven buried his face in her hair and squealed.

Peridot laughed and pulled out her phone to check the time. When she saw that it was almost 4:00 she groaned. She still had about an hour walk home and homework before she could play her game. She supposed if she put off homework she could play earlier...

"I have to go. If Jasper comes looking for me tell her I fell down a manhole or something."

"Okay, lates!" Said Amethyst running in circles with Steven laughing hysterically on her shoulders. Pearl was too busy worrying about Steven to notice what Peridot said, so Peridot began walking away at a fast pace.

The air was cold and crisp as she walked. The sky was dark and cloudy and Peridot worried it might rain. Rain usually meant thunder, which she was terrified of. Even though she knew it was nothing, the sound of it was enough to make her whimper and hide under the blankets. She walked faster not wanting to be caught outside when it started. She just wanted to get home, make a sandwich, put on her headphones and play her game.

She was relieved when she turned the corner and could see her house in view. She could already feel a few drops of water on her face and was glad she made it before it rained really hard. She ran the rest of the way, her boots pounding on the stairs as she ran up to her front door. She felt around her pockets and began feeling excited about finally being able to beat her game and rub it in stupid Amethyst's face that she-

Wait.

Where are her keys?

She patted her jeans pockets and felt nothing. She reached in her sweater pockets and came back with nothing. She took of her backpack and rummaged through it frantically. She dumped out all its contents and found pencils and crumpled up papers but no keys. She must have left them in her room.

"Damn it!" She cursed under her breath and she threw everything back into her bag and pulled out her phone. It had already started drizzling and she was really worried that she'd be stuck outside. She dialed her mom's number and listened impatiently for her to answer. She began pacing and ran a hand through her hair that was damp from the rain. The ringing stopped and went to voicemail. She angrily hung up and looked up at the sky. It wouldn't be much longer before the thunder started. If it was any other day, she would just wait outside or walk over to Jasper's house but she could not be caught in a thunder storm.

"What should I do..." She thought out loud to herself as she looked around. She could try to break in, although that might take a while. She glanced at her neighbors house and saw the lights on. She didn't really know them; she didn't actually know them at all. She never stayed outside long enough to see anyone and she didn't spy on them so she had no idea who they were. There was no car there but the lights were on so there could be someone there. Of course they could've just left the lights on and left. It couldn't hurt to go over there and check. Peridot tossed her backpack under the porch so it wouldn't get so wet while she was gone and crossed from her yard into her neighbor's.

It was too dark to see clearly, but as she came to her neighbor's walk way, little light's dimly lit up the walk way. They looked like those little motion sensing solar powered light's you could stick in the ground. Peridot thought that was pretty nice and she would try to remember to talk to her mom about getting them. The walkway was lined with knee length bushes until she reached the brick stairs leading up to a covered deck. The light from inside shone through thin, sheer curtains and Peridot hoped that someone would answer as she knocked three times.

She shifted from foot to foot nervously as she could hear thunder rolling in the distance. She was already dreading it. She heard soft approaching footsteps and then the door was opened.

"Hello?"

Standing in front of Peridot was a girl a few inches taller than she was with short dark blue hair. She wore a beige knit sweater and a long blue skirt that came to about her ankles. She had the most beautiful deep blue eyes Peridot had ever seen, even prettier than Pearl's! The girl's cheeks were dusted with a light pink and her eyes looked a little sleepy.

"I, um... locked myself out of my house and my mom won't be back for a while." Peridot said nervously. She felt like this girl would think she's the dumbest person in the world for locking herself out of her own house. She looked at her feet and adjusted her glasses. "I live next door, um..."

"Oh! Please, come in. You can stay here until your mom comes back." The girl said opening the door wider and standing to the side. "Just leave your shoes outside."

"Oh, t-thank you." Peridot said as she hastily untied her boots and set them next to the door. She stepped inside and looked around at the cozy little living room with two couches pushed up against adjoining walls with a coffee table in the middle and a reclining chair off to the side. There was a tv sitting on an entertainment center up against another wall that then cut off and turned into a dining room. There was a little lamp sitting on a table by an easel with an unfinished painting on it. Peridot wasn't exactly sure what it was but it kind of looked like a mermaid.

"Could I offer you anything? Do you like tea?" The girl asked from behind Peridot.

Tea? The only thing Peridot ever drank was Mountain Dew and maybe some milk in her cereal. But Peridot didn't want to be rude. "Um, sure..."

"Take a seat anywhere you like and I'll be right back." she said as she started walking away. She turned back and called, "I'm Lapis, by the way." before disappearing around the corner.

Peridot sat down on the couch that was across from the tv and took off her glasses to wipe them dry. She wondered why all the people she knew were named after rocks. Did all the parents in this town get together and agree to name as many children as possible after rocks?

A few minutes later Lapis returned with two cups of tea and set them on the coffee table. She sat down on the reclining chair and smoothed out her skirt. "I hope you like Green Tea."

"Me too..." muttered Peridot as she lifted the cup to her lips. She drank it and decided she did not like Green Tea and set the cup back down trying not to show her disgust with it. "Peridot."

"Hm?" Lapis looked up at Peridot from her folded hands.

"My name is Peridot." she clarified.

"Ah," said Lapis nodding her head. "Like the gemstone?"

"Yeah." Peridot ran her hands over her hair hoping to flatten it down with its dampness so it wouldn't be so outrageous. Of course, it didn't cooperate and took it's usual crazy form. She gave up, folding her arms and sighing. "So, do you live here alone?"

"I live here with my dad. He's out right now, but should be home sometime tonight." Lapis replied.

"Wait, how old are you?" Peridot asked. She thought this girl was much older than her, she acted so mature.

"16, and you?" Lapis said as if it were a normal question for her to encounter.

"17..." Wow, this girl was younger than her. "I don't believe I've seen you at school before?"

"I do independent studies. My dad thinks it's better for me."

"Uh-huh..." Peridot looked around the room, not sure what to say next. She wasn't the best conversationalist. Usually she would just listen to Pearl or Jasper rambling about whatever or scream at people through her headset while she played games. She looked at the half finished painting and pointed at it. "Is this yours?"

"Oh, yes. I've been working on it all day but I fell asleep about an hour ago. I woke up when you knocked on the door." Lapis said chuckling to herself.

"It's nice." Peridot said sincerely.

"I love painting anything with water involved. I study marine biology and it's so fascinating and inspiring." Lapis said with a dreamy sigh. Peridot could tell this was something she was very passionate about. "It's so nice to have company over. I never really leave the house so I don't have any friends."

"Oh..." Peridot said. She wanted to say something other than 'oh' so she didn't sound cold, but there was suddenly a loud clap of thunder. She jumped and a small squeak escaped her lips. She cleared her throat and tried to regain her composure so she didn't look like an idiot in front this stranger, but she couldn't stop herself from shaking.

"Are... Are you okay?" Lapis asked getting up to help Peridot.

"I'm fine! I'm fine..." Peridot said. She was just about to make up a random excuse but her phone rang. She grabbed it and answered.

"Hello?"

" _Sweetie, I just noticed I missed a call from you, is everything okay?"_

"Uh, yeah, everything is fine here. I just locked myself out of the house. I'm at the neighbor's house right now."

" _Okay, well I'm just pulling into the driveway, I'll let you in."_

"Okay, sounds great. Bye!" Peridot quickly hung up the phone and stood up. She was too embarrassed to stay any second longer. She just wanted to leave and go home and get under her blankets and pretend this never happened. "M-My mother is home and I really should be leaving now. Thank you for your hospitality!"

"O-Oh, okay. I hate for you to leave so soon." Lapis followed Peridot to the door. "Will you come back?"

"Come back for what?" Peridot asked, actually confused.

"Just to... visit? I mean, you don't have to, it's really no big deal if you don't."

Peridot felt like an ass now. She made it sound as if she didn't want to come back. Lapis had been so nice to her and she was just stupid! Freaking out over some thunder and then being completely rude! Peridot's hand paused on the door knob and she thought a moment.

"I... I'll come back tomorrow. After school." She stated bluntly. She could see Lapis's whole face light up out of the corner of her eye.

"Great! I'm looking forward to it!"

"Me too." Peridot said and opened the door. She grabbed her boots, not even bothering to put them on. She didn't care if she ruined her socks, she just wanted to get home.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey!" Peridot shouted when she heard a snap. She looked over towards Amethyst who now had a broken mechanical pencil clutched in her fist. Peridot had let her borrow the only mechanical pencil she had brought to school today and now it was smashed. "Why do you keep breaking my stuff?"

"Ohhh, sorry." Said Amethyst, giggling a bit. "Guess I don't know my own strength."

"Yeah, well now I have to use a crappy regular pencil." She said picking up her backpack to find said item. "These things are so primitive, I feel like a caveman using them."

"Stop fighting you two." cut in Pearl before taking a bite of her nutrition bar. "Its not a big deal."

"You have no room to talk, Pearl. You break my stuff too." Peridot set her notebook and pencil aside so she could actually eat lunch instead of doing homework for lunch period.

Pearl crossed her arms. "One time I step on your glass marble and I never hear the end of it."

"That marble was my baby." Peridot said angrily biting into a chip.

"All of you are retarded." Said Jasper from beside Peridot. She reached her hand into Peridot's bag of Doritos and shoved a fist full into her mouth. Peridot glared at her but other wise said nothing. She didn't mind sharing her food but Jasper always managed to crush a lot of the chips.

"I hope you know that you're probably the reason why I'm 'so short and weak'. You take all my food and then tower over me like a fucking building and block out the sun. How am I suppose to get any sort of nutrients with you around?"

"I'm pretty sure it's because all you drink is soda and never leave your house" Jasper retorted.

"Which reminds me, Peridot, would you like to come to my house after school to work on our project?" Asked Pearl interrupting the bickering girls and grabbing a napkin to fold it into a neat triangle.

"Wait, how did any of that remind you of homework?" Amethyst asked with her mouth full. Everyone ignored her or rather didn't understand what she said.

"Uh, after school?" Peridot said fiddling with a sleeve of her sweater. She remembered how she told Lapis she would come over after school and how happy she had been. She didn't want to just blow off Lapis but she didn't want to face her after last night either. She still felt like an idiot and after she had gone home last night, she locked herself in her room and hid from the thunder, trying to forget her embarrassment. She frowned a bit, blushing from the memory.

"Is everything alright?" Pearl asked with concern. Everyone at the table turned to Peridot and she felt her cheeks heat up more. She cleared her throat and took off her glasses to inspect them as if there was something on them.

"I have stuff to do today. It would be better if I came some other time." She explained.

"Honestly, Peridot, I hardly doubt your game is that important. I'm sure Steven would love to make you one of his special snacks." Pearl said trying to sweeten the deal.

"It's not my game!" Peridot cried, scowling at Pearl. "I... I have to meet with someone today."

"Ooooh Peridot has a DATE! With a BOY!" Screamed Amethyst in her most annoying voice, laughing.

"I bet it's a scrawny little nerd that she met over the internet." Jasper said slapping Peridot on the back, causing her to lurch forward and almost hit her head on the table.

"Ohh, this is so exciting. Is he handsome?" Asked Pearl with a wide grin on her face.

"It's not a BOY!" Screamed Peridot as she weakly slapped her hands against Jasper who just laughed at her. "It's my neighbor! She invited me over after school."

Pearl hunched her shoulders and made a noise of disappointment. Jasper and Amethyst just continued laughing as if they didn't hear what Peridot had said.

"You almost never leave your house, though! What makes this neighbor so special?" Asked Jasper leaning into Peridot to look more closely at her face. Peridot didn't want to explain how she had locked herself outside and then made a fool of herself in front of her neighbor. Jasper would never let her live it down.

"Nothing... She's homeschooled and has no friends so I felt bad for her, Jesus! Why do I need to be interrogated for going to a friend's house?"

"Pfft you're so lame." Jasper messed up Peridot's hair and then got up and ran away before Peridot could say anything. This caused Amethyst to laugh even harder and almost fall out of her chair while Peridot growled loudly. She was about to chase her when the bell rang for them to return to class. Peridot just pouted and grabbed her backpack, walking away quickly to hopefully get to the bathrooms to fix her hair before class.

* * *

Peridot walked home at a slower pace than usual. She really didn't want to get to Lapis's house and have to explain herself for last night. Jasper, her best friend since kindergarten, didn't even know about her fear of thunder. If Peridot couldn't even tell her, she definitely didn't want to tell a stranger that she would have to see often, considering they lived next door. Now that Lapis knew she existed it would be hard to avoid her. Maybe if she convinced her mom to let them move to Mexico...

Peridot rounded the corner to the street her house was on and paused. She tried to decide if she should go to her house first to drop off her stuff and prepare herself or if she should just go to straight to Lapis and get it over with. She looked down at her pants and saw the legs were soaked with water from stepping in puddles. It might be good to change those, so she decided to go to her house first.

Luckily, she actually remembered her keys today, and pulled them out of her pocket as she walked up to her door. She unlocked it, and looked over to Lapis's house. It was the middle of the day and not as dark today so there were no lights on. There was no car in the driveway either. She hoped that maybe Lapis had forgotten she was suppose to come over and had gone out. Knowing her luck, though, it was unlikely. She rushed inside and changed her pants and socks, and walked across the yard into the other.

She climbed the brick stairs once again and held her breath as she knocked. She waited a full thirty seconds and heard nothing. Maybe Lapis really had forgotten and left. She was about to turn away when the door was opened by Lapis whose hair was a mess. Today she wore a pair of light blue fluffy sweat pants and a white t-shirt. She looked as if she was wearing her pajamas although it was 5:30 in the afternoon.

"Peridot!" She gasped and looked down at herself. Her hands fluttered around nervously and she rubbed at her eyes. "I forgot you were coming and I was up really late and slept all day, I-"

"Hey, calm down." Peridot interjected, putting her hands up in defense, although she did nothing wrong. "I can just come back another time."

"No, no, please stay. I... Just let me get dressed and I'll be right out." Lapis said opening the door wider and rushing off to a different part of the house. Peridot stood there for a moment a little surprised and then took off her boots to step inside, remembering how Lapis wanted them off yesterday. Unsure what to do with herself, she flopped down on the couch and looked around the room. The easel and painting were gone but other than that everything looked the same.

Lapis came back to the living room wearing a black turtle neck and a pair of skinny jeans. Her hair was brushed and pinned back from her face with hair clips. "I'm so sorry I slept so late. I really was looking forward to your visit and I set an alarm but I must have slept through it." She sat down on the chair and folded her hands neatly in her lap.

"It's...okay?" Peridot said. She wasn't sure how someone could sleep in so late but she assumed there could've been an emergency or something.

"You have no idea how happy I am that you're here." Lapis said pressing her hand to her chest. "I haven't interacted with someone my age for such a long time, I forgot what it's like."

"Why not go to public school or get into extracurricular activities?" Asked Peridot.

"I would, but my dad insists that it's better for me to stay home and focus on my work."

"Where is your dad, by the way? Does he work during the day?"

"He does..." Lapis said biting her lip and looking away as if she wanted to say something but wasn't sure how. "But enough about me, I want to know more about you."

"What... do you want to know exactly?" Peridot asked nervously. She was starting to feel a little anxious since she wasn't used to telling other people about herself. She was hoping she wouldn't have to talk about her little scene last night. She wanted to avoid that subject at all costs.

"Well, do you have any hobbies?"

"Uh, I guess you could count playing online RPGs as a hobby. I'm also really good with computers and could probably hack any system I wanted." Peridot said with a little bit of pride. Numbers and technology came very easily to Peridot. She could recall once in the sixth grade science fair she created a little robonoid thing that could repair minor cracks and dents in metal. Everyone was impressed with it.

"That sounds fun!" Lapis said smiling. "I don't have any video games of my own or even a computer but I would like to play some day."

Peridot couldn't imagine anyone who didn't have a computer. They were so common nowadays, everyone had one! She wondered why Lapis didn't. "You could always come to my house." Peridot offered. The only person who really came over to play games with her was Amethyst. The rest of the time she spent playing with people online.

"I would love that." Lapis said in such a way that made Peridot's heart flutter a little bit. She wasn't sure if it was because she felt bad for Lapis staying so cooped up for so long or if she was happy that somebody appreciated her company. Sure, Peridot had friends who loved her but they never treated her like this.

"You could come over on Friday. I would say to come tomorrow but I'm going to a friend's house to work on a project."

"I bet you have a lot of friends." Lapis said. "You seem so nice and friendly."

Peridot blushed and looked down. Lapis was really strange. Nice, but strange. She gave too many compliments and acted like Peridot was the best person in the world. Lapis wasn't kidding when she said she didn't know how to act in front of people her age. It was making Peridot really nervous.

"Yes, well... Is Friday a good day for you?" Peridot asked wanting to get the conversation off of her.

"That sounds fine. Should I bring anything? Snacks?"

"That won't be necessary. I have... things" Peridot said lamely. She had wanted to use a different word but couldn't think straight when she saw Lapis visibly tense up. Her eyes were huge and her shoulders were pulled back so much it looked painful. Peridot thought she had said something wrong and had somehow offended Lapis but she couldn't think of anything wrong she had said. She starting panicking trying to think of something she could've done to cause this reaction, but she came up with nothing. She was about to apologize when she heard a car pulling into the driveway outside. She looked behind her out the window and saw a blue truck parking outside.

"What time is it?" Lapis asked in a voice barely above a whisper. Peridot pulled out her phone and read her the time.

"He's early." Lapis stood up suddenly and grabbed Peridot's arm, pulling her from the couch. "You have to leave now!"

Peridot stumbled forward almost hitting the coffee table being dragged by Lapis, who was surprisingly strong. "Why, what's going on?"

"I can't tell you, I just need you to leave!" Lapis let go of Peridot's arm and peeked out the window. "There's no time for you to leave from the front door, you'll have to go out the back." Lapis grabbed Peridot by her shoulders and started guiding her quickly through the dining room and into a back room that looked like a laundry room.

"Is everything okay? Why are you- mm!" Peridot's mouth was suddenly covered by a small hand. Lapis leaned in closely behind Peridot and whisper-yelled into her ear.

"Just go! I'm sorry to do this but I need you to leave!" She then opened the door leading outside and pushed Peridot out so hard that she fell forward on her hands and knees onto the damp grass. Her glasses fell off and she turned around to look at Lapis just as she shut and locked the door. Peridot sat there for a moment a little dazed unsure of what just happened. Lapis had just kicked her out of her home when 'he' arrived early. Peridot picked up her glasses and set them back on before getting up. She felt a dampness under her feet and realized she didn't have her boots. They were still outside on the front porch by the door. She couldn't just leave them there but Lapis was so panicked about whoever was here that she was a little afraid to go get them. She took off her socks so she wouldn't ruin them and held them in her hand as she tiptoed to the corner of the house and peered around it. There was a tall bush in the way but she could see no one in the driver's seat of the truck so he must've already gone inside. She ducked down to avoid being seen through a window and ran to the front of the house.

Instead of going completely around to the front of the steps, she climbed the railing and crawled to her boots as quietly as she could. She was actually pretty nimble when she wanted to be. As she got closer to the door she could hear yelling from inside. It was a deep man's voice yelling about something Peridot couldn't quite hear. She picked up her boots and leaned against the wall to hear.

"You know the rules, why would you disobey them?"

"I didn't know you would be home so soon, I'm sorry!"

"That is no excuse! When I come home, I expect you to have dinner close to or already done! And what do I find instead? You just sitting there reading!"

"It's part of my homework-"

"I don't care!"

Peridot heard a loud crash inside, like smashing glass and a loud shriek and then it went deathly silent. She listened for just a minute longer and then decided it would be best if she left. She crawled back to the railing and jumped over. She ran back to her house, not quite sure what she had just heard. Whatever it was, it didn't sound good and she really hoped Lapis was okay.

* * *

(A/N: Thank you, all you people out there who read this. I didn't think this would actually be that interesting to anyone but I'm glad I was wrong. My posting of chapters will be pretty sporadic but I'll try to get them up fast. Also, thank you to the people who reviewed this and gave me some tips on what I should fix. The biggest problem someone had was the height different between Peridot and Lapis. I could've sworn Peridot was taller than Lapis with her limb enhancers? Not that much taller, like maybe an inch or two. But I'm glad that was the biggest issue rather than my plot line or writing skills. Anyway, thanks for reading again and I'll get the next chapter up soon~)


	3. Chapter 3

Peridot groaned and continued tapping the mouse pad of her laptop. She laid on her stomach on her bed, her head propped up with a pillow as she scrolled through a blog about her town. Her eyes burned and she was tired but she continued to read ridiculous posts about "whispering stairs" near the movie theater. She turned he head to look out the window to Lapis's house for the fiftieth time tonight. She didn't have her glasses and being near sighted everything looked blurry but she could see the glow of light from inside the house. She turned back to her laptop and squinted her eyes to read the time.

5:26 a.m. The lights in Lapis's house had not turned off once that night. Occasionally, lights in other rooms would turn on and then turn off a while later, indicating that someone was still awake. Peridot had stayed up all night worrying about Lapis and distracting herself with random things to keep herself awake. At around midnight her mom came home so she couldn't do anything that involved a lot of noise so she resigned herself to doing menial tasks on her laptop. Periodically, she would look out her window to see if the blue truck ever left or if the lights would at least turn off. Neither of those things happened.

A few times she thought about going over there to see if Lapis was alright but she didn't want to make things worse for her. Even though she's only known the girl for two days, she felt a strange possessiveness over her. Probably because Lapis had been so nice to her. She made Peridot feel... appreciated and cherished. Jasper was her best friend and they got along really well but Jasper mostly teased her and took her food. Amethyst was fun, but really loud. Pearl was nice but her and Peridot had only recently begun getting along. For a long time she thought Pearl was one of those girls who just liked to cling to the arm of some boy and look pretty. She realized she was wrong when her and Pearl got into a heated argument about robotic engineering and Pearl revealed her decent amount of knowledge on the subject. Now Pearl was a really close friend of hers but not enough to really appreciate her company. Lapis held Peridot up on a pedestal and made her feel worth while.

The thought of someone hurting a sweet girl like that made her blood boil. Twice now Peridot had accidentally woke up Lapis in the middle of the day, and she could tell it had something to do with Lapis being up all night with her dad around. Peridot checked out the window one last time and saw the truck still out there. She huffed in irritation and closed her laptop. As long her dad was still there, there wasn't anything she could do and it was almost time for her to leave for school. She really didn't want to get up, partly because she had no pants on and she knew leaving her blankets would be cold and partly because she hated to leave Lapis. She needed to make sure Lapis was okay but it didn't help to dwell on it so she threw the blankets off her bare legs and jumped up to run to the bathroom for a shower.

* * *

Peridot stood in front of the mirror combing out her now straight hair. When it was wet it cooperated a lot better and she was able to get it to do what she wanted, letting the jaw length locks frame her face neatly. She smiled to her reflection with approval and stepped out of the bathroom to go to her room and grab her sweater. Just before she stepped into her room, the door behind her opened.

"Good morning, honey." Her mom said stepping out and pulling the very aggravated teen into a hug. Peridot grunted and tried to push away from her, but it only resulted in the hug becoming tighter.

"Hello, Mother." Peridot said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. It wasn't that Peridot disliked her mother, it was just that her mom could be a little too touchy-feely for her tastes. Her mom patted her back and kissed the top of her head. "Mom, my hair!"

Her mom laughed. "It looks fine." She said smoothing it out, but already it was starting to stick up. "Are you hungry? I could make you something before school."

"You know I'm never hungry in the mornings." Peridot said rolling her eyes.

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It starts your metabolism."

"Thanks for that very vital piece of information Nurse Diamond. But I'm still not eating. And I'd like to go now, please." Peridot said squirming out of her mom's grip. Her mom finally let her go and she straightened out her plain black tank top.

"Alright, if you insist." she yawned. "I'm going back to bed then. I hope you have a nice day at school. I love you."

"Love you, too." Peridot said flatly as she walked into her bedroom. Even though she sounded bored and insincere, she meant it. She walked to her desk and picked up her dark green sweater off the back of the chair and held it up. She couldn't remember the last time she had washed it. She was always wearing it, unless she was sleeping. She shrugged not really caring and slipped it onto her arms, zipping it up. She adjusted it to sit on her comfortably, and as she did she happened to glance out her window. The truck was no longer there and the lights were off at Lapis's house.

Peridot's heartbeat sped up. She could finally go over there to check on Lapis and make sure everything was okay! Peridot quickly put on her boots and ran toward the door. She then realized that school existed and that she had to go to it. She decided she could skip school for one day. It wouldn't hurt her grade that much and besides, the school WiFi was terrible. She opened the door and saw it was raining, so she threw up her hood. She really hoped there wouldn't be thunder again. She ran across her yard into Lapis's and climbed the stairs to her front door. She knocked and waited. There was no answer. She tried to peek in through the window but the curtains were shut tightly. She tried opening the door, surprised when it actually opened. Apparently no one had locked it.

She took off her boots and walked into the dark house and softly shut the door behind her. She strained her ears to hear for anything but it was completely quiet aside from the soft pitter-patter of rain on the roof. She felt weird just walking into someone's house but she needed to know that Lapis was okay. She slowly and quietly walked past the living room and turned the corner to a short hallway. There were three doors, one on each wall. One was open to reveal it as a bathroom and the other two were closed. She picked the door to her right and opened it just a crack. She looked in and saw nothing but black. She opened it more and peeked her head around it.

Inside was a dark room with only a little bit of light illuminating the sky blue walls with tons of paintings of aquatic life hanging on them. There was a small desk and chair up against one wall with a white dresser with an oval mirror next to it. On another wall there was a window covered with navy blue blackout curtains blocking out most of the light. Off to the side there was the easel and half finished painting she had seen the first day she was here. In the middle of the room was a bed with an oak headboard against the wall. The bed was covered with a dark blue comforter with tiny stars scattered on it. Under the blanket was a sleeping form whose soft even breathing could be heard. Peridot stepped into the room and tiptoed to the bed.

She shifted from foot to foot nervously. She felt really awkward breaking into someone's house while they were sleeping. She was completely invading Lapis's privacy. Jasper had broke into her house once to surprise her on her birthday and Peridot had been so mad she threw a heavy book at Jasper's face and caused her to have a nosebleed. She really didn't want a similar thing to happen to her if Lapis caught her here. She turned to leave but she heard the blankets shifting and Lapis made a soft noise. Peridot froze up, her breath hitching as the sleepy girl rolled over and rubbed her eyes.

"Peridot...?" Lapis asked propping herself on her elbow. Peridot's cheeks instantly burned with embarrassment. She was sure Lapis would think she was some sort of creep for watching her sleep.

"Um, n-no. I'm a serial killer." Peridot mentally slapped herself in the face for saying something so stupid.

"Why are you..." she yawned. "...here?"

The flustered teen looked down and stuffed her hands in her sweater pockets. She really wished she could crawl into a hole right now and never come out to see the light of day. "I-I just came over to see if you were okay." She could hear the blankets rustling and the squeak of bed springs. She saw small bare feet swing over the edge of the bed as Lapis sat up. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"

Peridot's head shot up and she furrowed her brow. Was Lapis completely unaware about what happened in her own house? "Because of what happened yesterday?" she said incredulously.

"Oh... that." Lapis stood up and walked past Peridot flick on the light and look at herself in the mirror. "I'm sorry you had to leave so soon. My dad doesn't like when I have company over."

Peridot crossed her arms and squinted her eyes at the back of Lapis's head. "Normally when parents are angry with their kids they just scold them, not scream hysterically and break things."

Lapis picked up her comb and brushed out her bangs while looking at Peridot in the mirror. "He's very strict. And it really isn't something to worry about. I'm glad you were concerned enough to check up on me but it's really nothing. And he didn't break anything on purpose, he just bumped into a vase that fell."

Peridot wasn't sure she completely believed this story. If it was really nothing then she wouldn't have freaked out so much. She was about to ask Lapis more questions but Lapis asked first.

"Doesn't public school usually start around this time? What are you doing here?"

"I... I told you already. I came to make sure you were okay."

Lapis set down her comb and turned around to look at Peridot. "You mean you skipped school just to look out for my well being?"

Heat rose to Peridot's cheeks. She didn't usually do this kind of thing for anyone. Jasper once broke her arm during a wrestling match and Peridot only stopped by once to visit her and even then she acted pretty indifferent towards her. But now here saw was looking after a girl she had known for only two days. She supposed the situation was a bit worse than a broken arm that you got on your own accord, but still she cleared her throat and pulled her hood a bit lower over her face. "Y-Yeah."

"Thank you, Peridot." Lapis stepped toward her and wrapped her arms gently around the shorter girl's neck. The contact of the other cause Peridot to tense up and blush more, but she wrapped her arms awkwardly around Lapis's waist. She's never had a hug like this before. Normally the hugs she got her forced and rough because she always tried to get away from whoever was assaulting her. But this hug was gentle and comforting. Being her awkward self she just said the first thing that came to mind.

"What the fuck, Lapis, you're so soft."

Lapis pulled away from Peridot and laughed. She covered her mouth with one hand but kept her other on Peridot's shoulder. Peridot twisted her face in confusion. She just gave Lapis a compliment (of sorts) and she just laughed at her! She turned away and dropped her hands from Lapis's waist and stuffed them in her pockets again. "You must be exhausted from staying up all night. I should leave so you can get some sleep."

Lapis instantly stopped laughing. "How do you know I was up all night?"

"I saw your lights on." Peridot said.

"Were you... spying on me?" Lapis asked stepping back a little. Peridot realized how bad that must sound and instantly regretted saying that.

"I... Should go. If I leave now I could probably still make it to school. Besides, I think Pearl wanted me for something. Not sure why, the girl is perfectly capable of writting her own essay-"

"Please don't leave!" Lapis interuptted Peridot's nervous rant. Her eyes grew wide and looked a bit watery as she grabbed hold of Peridot's sleeves. "Having you around has reminded me how lonely I've been! Every day locked up in this house feels like a thousand years! He won't let me leave but I need someone to be with! Please, stay just for a while longer?"

Peridot stared at Lapis and saw the desperation in her eyes. She looked so small and helpless, she felt bad for her. It must be tough being trapped. True, Peridot locked herself in her room a lot and won't come out for days, but she does that of her own free will. Lapis was literally trapped here. She couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

"What about your dad?"

"We... We could sneak around! We could see each other when he isn't around! As long as I get all my chores and homework done he won't know a thing!"

Peridot wasn't sure she liked the idea of sneaking around and possibly getting Lapis in trouble with her dad, but she felt so bad for her. She also really liked Lapis and would like to keep her as a friend. Lapis was so... gentle and kind and sweet. She needed someone like that in her life. It would be a nice change from crazy Jasper and Amethyst or uptight Pearl.

"Alright, fine. I'll stay as long as I can. But this won't be an everyday thing! You'll have to wait for me to get back from school and some days I might be busy with my own stuff." Peridot said firmly. Lapis's eyes lit up and she smiled wide, making Peridot blush a little.

"Thank you! You're the most wonderful person ever!" Lapis threw her arms around Peridot again and squealed with joy. Peridot patted her back awkwardly and chuckled. She didn't think this arrangement would be too bad. She would be helping someone and she got a great friend out of it. She only hoped they could actually get away with it.

* * *

(A/N: Thank you all again for reading~ I kind of forgot to mention that this is my first fan fiction ever and that I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing. I feel like the story line doesn't make any sense. If anyone could give me some advice I would appreciate it. In the meantime, I'll try to work on another chapter)


	4. Chapter 4

Peridot yawned and stared blankly ahead at the shitty romcom movie Lapis had picked. Lapis had insisted she stayed and hang out with her but both of them were too tired to do anything that required much effort. She rested her head on her hand propped up on the arm of Lapis's couch. She didn't think she would be this tired. All she did was stay up looking out the window and doing things she normal did when she stayed up. She felt as if she had stayed up for three days, although it was only one. She supposed that worrying all night about someone could be emotionally exhausting. Speaking of that certain someone, she turned her head to look at Lapis who was sitting at the other end of the couch, also dozing off as she stared at the tv. All the lights were off, except for the glow coming from the tv, and it was still raining so sleep could come easily to both of them.

Peridot shifted herself so her legs were folded on the couch and she was laying more on the arm of the couch. She checked her phone and it was still pretty early so she could probably sleep for a while before she had to worry about Lapis's dad coming home. She glanced back at Lapis who looked like her eyes were already closed. She thought it would be better that they both went to sleep. Peridot closed her eyes and drowned out the noise of the tv. She slowly began drifting to sleep, content with how much more comfortable this couch was than her bed...

Sudden a loud clap of thunder shot through the relatively quiet house, causing Peridot to scream and jump up. She shot up so quickly she accidentally kicked Lapis in the thigh, causing the confused girl to scream as well.

"What happened!?" Lapis cried, sitting up and looking around for any signs of danger. She was answered with another yelp from Peridot as she fell off the couch. Out of instinct, Peridot rolled under the coffee table and hid from the thunder. She completely forgot where she was, fatigued from lack of sleep and terrified out of her mind. She whimpered and curled herself into a ball, hugging her knees tightly to her chest.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Lapis asked. Peridot covered her ears trying to block out any more loud thunder that might scare her again.

"It's the end of the world!" she moaned, not really sure why she chose to say that. She continued whimpering, hoping that thunder would go away and leave her alone. She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and she relaxed a bit.

"It's okay. It's just thunder." Lapis said softly. She coaxed Peridot out of under the table and they both sat on the couch. Lapis pulled her into a hug and rested her head on her shoulder. "I don't like thunder either."

Peridot slowly began to calm down and realize what was going on. She felt Lapis's warm arms around her and it made her feel safe. She felt like there was nothing that could get her, and she sighed and laid her head on top of Lapis's fluffy blue hair. Peridot closed her eyes and smiled just slightly, content with her current position. Her happiness didn't last long because she drifted into a deep sleep almost immediately.

* * *

Peridot's eyes shot open when she suddenly heard loud electronic music playing. She looked around before remembering she was at Lapis's house sleeping on her couch. She felt an arm draped over her chest and looked to see it was Lapis's who was stirring to the same sound she was awoken by. She realized that noise was coming from her pocket, and she shifted around to grab her phone out of her pocket. She squinted her eyes and moved the phone closer to her face, noticing she didn't have her glasses. She was pretty sure the person calling was Jasper.

"Hello?" She answered in an annoyed voice. Next to her Lapis sat up and rubbed her eyes.

" _Where you at, nerd?_ "

Peridot groaned and rolled over to feel the floor under the couch. A few seconds later her hand came back with her glasses and she set them on her nose. She really didn't want to deal with Jasper right now. She was too tired.

"I _was_ sleeping." She said exaggerating the word 'was' to show Jasper that she was bothered by her.

" _The fuck, it's four in the afternoon._ "

"So?"

" _So, what happened to school? Pearl has been on my ass all day wondering where you are!_ "

" _I have not!_ " Peridot could hear an annoyingly whiny voice say in the background. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"What do you want, Jasper?"

" _We're gonna be at your house in about five minutes so get your happy ass out of bed and get food ready._ "

"What!?"

" _Do as I command!_ "

"Wait, no-!" The phone then went silent and Peridot sat there dumbly with her mouth open. She angrily hung up her phone and ran a hand through her hair.

"Is everything alright?" Lapis asked.

Crap. She had forgotten where she was again. She remembered how they had both started out watching a movie but both of them were too tired to stay awake. She also remembered the thunder and hiding under the coffee table and then Lapis bringing her out and cuddling her until she fell back asleep. Her face instantly started to burn and she hurriedly got up from the couch. She was so embarrassed, how could she act like that around Lapis? She was supposed to be the one helping Lapis, not the other way around! And she had actually cuddled her! Peridot had never cuddled anyone before. Unless you count that one time in third grade when she got tangled in Jasper's hair at a sleepover.

Oh god, Jasper! What would she do if she found out Peridot was sleeping at her neighbors house? What would anyone think? Especially if they found out they were cuddling! She had to get home and fast so she could pretend everything was fine and maybe scream at them to go away.

"I... Everything is just fine. But, my dumbass friends thought it would be a good idea to randomly show up without any warning so I have to go now." Peridot said, trying to stay calm but also trying to get out of here as soon as possible.

"Your friends are coming?" Lapis asked sitting up straighter.

"Ugh, yes! Which is why I have to go!"

"Do you think I could... Meet them?"

Peridot thought about this for a minute. She couldn't introduce them to Lapis now. She had just told Jasper she was sleeping, if Lapis was there it would have the same outcome as if she told them she was sleeping over here. She couldn't risk that, not right now.

"Maybe some other time. I'll come back later if I can, but I really have to go. Besides, don't you have homework or something that you need to get done?"

Lapis slumped her shoulders a little. "Yeah..."

"Alright, do that." Peridot adjusted her sweater and tried to scrub the sleep from her face.

"But you will be back, right?" Lapis asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

"Yes, yes." Peridot said running toward the door. "I promise I will return." With that she opened the door and ran outside, grabbing her boots, but not putting them on. (How many pairs of socks was she going to ruin doing this?)

She ran as fast as possible into her yard and up her stairs. She tried her best not to get wet from the rain but by the time she got inside, she was pretty damp. She ran to her room, accidentally running into a wall on her way, and changed into her pajamas to make it look like she was asleep here. She dried her hair as best she could and looked out the window. She could see Jasper's black SUV pulling into her driveway.

"Damn it!" She cursed under her breath and stomped out to the living room. By this time, her mom had heard the commotion and came out of her room to see what her daughter was stomping about.

"Peridot, you're back from school." She said, completely unaware of where Peridot really was. Peridot paused in her tracks.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I am. Also, my friends are here. Apparently." She said. She wasn't able to hide the annoyance from her voice.

"Oh? Should I get out some snacks? I think I've slept long enough to function without falling on my face." She chuckled at her own joke.

"Sure, whatever." Peridot said turning towards the door that was being pounded on. She sighed and opened the door to reveal Jasper, Amethyst and Pearl standing on her doorstep. Of course they would all come together to make her life a living hell at her own home.

"Peri, my man!" Amethyst shouted, pushing past both Jasper and Peridot to get into her house. Peridot stepped back and let Jasper walk in, followed by Pearl, who gave Peridot an apologetic look.

"Sorry, about this. I tried to tell them it would be better to wait until tomorrow but they practically threw me in the car and drove away."

Peridot nodded, understanding that Pearl had nothing to do with this other than mentioning Peridot's absence. "I would have at least liked a warning!" Peridot called behind Pearl to Jasper who was flopping herself down on her couch.

"Hey, I called you!" Jasper said.

"It doesn't count if you call five minutes before showing up! You might as well have said nothing at all!" Peridot yelled slamming the door. Pearl calmly made her way to the couch and sat down at the other end from Jasper. Amethyst was on the floor laying on her stomach and kicking her feet in the air.

"Peridot, you should be nicer to your friends. They were nice enough to visit you." her mother chastised lightly.

"Yeah, we even came after you abandoned us at school to sleep all day!" Amethyst said loudly.

"Sleep? I thought you were at school?" Her mom asked looking to her daughter. Peridot froze up and shifted her eyes between her mom and her friends.

"Uh... Mom, weren't you going to make food? Why don't you go do that."

"Aw, yes, I'm starving!" Said Amethyst. Jasper called out 'same' and Pearl said something about being hungry as well. With a room full of teenagers demanding for food, her mom shrugged and headed towards the kitchen. Peridot sighed and crossed her arms, facing her friends.

"What are you clods doing here anyway?"

"We came to see why you weren't at school!" Amethyst said, rolling towards Peridot's feet and looking up at her.

"Yes, we did." Agreed Pearl. "But more importantly, we came to give you the schoolwork you missed. I also wanted to ask you about the plans for our essay. I realize there is still a lot of time before it needs to be turned in, but I would like to get started on it as soon as possible."

"Yeah, we wanted to make sure the nerds could get each other off with homework." Jasper cut in. Amethyst burst out laughing and Pearl shook her head in disgust. Peridot rubbed her temples and growled in frustration.

"And this couldn't wait until tomorrow because...?"

"Because we love you, Peri!" Amethyst said jumping up and hugging Peridot. Although Amethyst was shorter than her, she was pretty strong for her size, being on an even more advanced wrestling team than Jasper. Peridot pushed on her, trying to get out of the hug. Getting all those soft hugs from Lapis, she had forgotten the horrible hugs she could get from her friends. Amethyst's hugs were better than Jasper's but they were still rough.

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Peridot was about to just fall on the floor and roll around until Amethyst let go, but her mom came back with a plate of hot pockets and set them on the coffee table. Amethyst dove for the plate and grabbed two of them trying to stuff them both in her mouth. Jasper grabbed one and practically inhaled it, while Pearl gingerly picked one up and blew on it before taking a dainty bite.

"Aren't you going to get one?" Peridot's mom asked her. Although Peridot was really hungry, having skipped breakfast and lunch, she decided not to. She didn't want everyone to think she was comfortable enough with this to eat. She wanted to show her discomfort to hopefully get them to leave.

"No, I want you out of my house!"

"Aw, come on let us stay." Jasper whined. "Let us watch a movie with you."

"We came here to work on homework, not waste time with a movie." Pearl reminded.

Peridot rubbed at her eyes and slowly slid her hands down her face. She realized she wouldn't get them to leave so the only option was to do what they wanted. "Fine! You two pick a movie on Netflix and Pearl and I will begin our essay." With that she grabbed her Xbox controller and threw it at Jasper and sat down in a huff next to Pearl who began taking out her notebook from her bag.

* * *

Finally, after two hours of another shitty movie she was forced to watch, this one being an action film, and after going over notes with Pearl, her friends began to leave. Amethyst gave Peridot another hug, causing her to smile awkwardly, and Jasper ruffled up her hair. Pearl simply said bye, and Peridot's mom waved to them out the door. Peridot sighed, happy to be alone now and began picking up the mess everyone made.

"That was fun, right?" Peridot's mom asked, helping her.

Peridot shrugged. "Yeah... it kinda was." She admitted. She took dirty dishes to the kitchen and stretched. She felt a little... refreshed. While she was upset that her friends ambushed her like that, she did enjoy their company. She especially liked that Amethyst laughed at all the jokes she made about the movie. Making Amethyst laugh was always amusing to her since Amethyst always laughed so hard, even though Peridot thought her jokes weren't that great.

Peridot walked to her room and flopped down on her bed. She stared up at the ceiling and turned her head to look out her window. It was dark and still raining but not enough for there to be thunder. She could see the glow of light from Lapis's house and she remembered her promise. She sat up and began looking for her boots, not really caring she was in her pajamas. She had already seen Lapis in her pajamas so it wouldn't be too awkward. There was a soft knocking on her bedroom door and she looked up from tying her laces.

"It's time for me to go to work. I'll be back sometime in the morning." Her mom said.

"Okay, bye." she said looking back down at her shoe.

"Are you going somewhere?" Her mom asked with a suspicious look on her face.

"Uh..." Peridot thought for a moment. She didn't think it would hurt to tell her mom about Lapis. "I'm going to see the neighbor again. A girl lives there and she's... interesting."

"Oh! It's so good to see you getting out of the house!" Her mom squealed.

"I leave the house every week day for school." Peridot reminded her.

"Oh, that doesn't count. I mean getting out of the house to do something fun! Oh, I should be leaving or I'll be late. I hope you have a good time there! And don't stay up too late!" With that her mom walked out of her room and out the front door. Peridot looked out her window and saw her mom walking to her car quickly to avoid getting to wet. Peridot stood up and grabbed her sweater to once again see Lapis. She wasn't sure why but she felt excited about seeing her. It was just Lapis, no one particularly important.

She jogged to Lapis's house and knocked on the door. A few seconds later Lapis opened the door with a spoon in her hand and her hair clipped back with hair clips. She wore a low cut pink tank top with a flowing black skirt that reached her knees She had a huge smile and practically squealed when she saw Peridot.

"You came back!" she said motioning for Peridot to come inside. Peridot took off her boots and came inside, hit with the smell of something cooking that smelled really good.

"I did. But not for long. Who knows when your dad will be back."

"Oh, he told me he wouldn't be back until at least a half hour from now!" Lapis said excitedly. She looked so happy but also like she was restraining herself from doing something. Peridot raised an eyebrow but turned around and sniffed the air toward the kitchen.

"Are you making something?" she asked. Lapis started walking to the kitchen, motioning to Peridot to follow her. She did, walking past the dining room and into the spacious kitchen with a pot on the stove and garlic bread on the counter.

"I thought I would make something real fast since my dad won't be back for a while." she lifted the lid of the pot and stirred it before turning off the burner. "It's nothing special, just spaghetti."

Peridot's eyes immediately lit up and the mention of her most favorite food in the world (besides Doritos, of course). She came up behind Lapis and stood on her tiptoes to look over Lapis's shoulder. She hadn't realized how hungry she was, although it would make sense since she hadn't eaten all day. "It looks really good."

"Do you want some?" Lapis said as she moved to grab two plates from a cupboard.

"Y-You don't have to do that." Peridot said.

"It's fine. I don't mind you eating with me." Lapis put the food on the plates and took it into the dining room, setting it on the table. Peridot followed, feeling awkward and intrusive for just coming over and eating Lapis's food but now that it was already served she couldn't say no. She took a seat across from Lapis and picked up her fork. Lapis was just staring at her expectantly, as if she wanted her to eat and tell her how it tasted. Peridot took a bite and closed her eyes. She had never tasted anything so good before. Usually her mom wasn't around to make anything good and Peridot was shit when it came to cooking. She smiled at Lapis and went for another bite.

"It's really good!"

Lapis giggled and smiled back. "I'm glad you think so!"

They both ate in relative silence, mostly because Peridot had her mouth full most of the time. Every once in a while, Peridot would catch Lapis looking at her in a strange way that she couldn't quite read. Finally, Lapis spoke up.

"I... I like your shirt."

Peridot wiped her mouth and looked down at her shirt. It was just a plain black T-shirt. "Uh... thanks? I sleep in this."

"O-Oh, that's good." Lapis looked down at her now empty plate blushing a little bit. Peridot blushed too realizing that she had probably made Lapis feel really uncomfortable by not making any conversation with her after she had just given her dinner! She cleared her throat and stood up.

"I... I should probably go. It's getting late and your dad should be here soon."

Lapis looked up and pulled a lock of hair behind her ear before standing up. "R-Right. Okay then..."

Peridot stood there for a moment not sure what she should do. She didn't want to just leave without saying or doing anything but she couldn't think of anything to do. Lapis was already clearing away the table so she couldn't even help with that. Man, she felt so awkward.

"I'll come back tomorrow, if you want." She offered. Lapis looked at her and smiled.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'll come after school."

Lapis set the plates back on the table. "Great! I'll show you to the door." Lapis guided Peridot through the living room and to the door. Peridot looked back at Lapis, thinking she was acting really weird. One minute she was avoiding eye contact and blushing and the next she was bubbly and happy. Lapis was really a strange girl, but she suppose she was no different herself. She stood with her hand on the door knob staring at Lapis who was just smiling at her.

"Well... I... Bye." she said and waved awkwardly. As she turned the knob, Lapis touched her arm.

"Peridot..." Lapis said looking into her eyes. Peridot turned back around and raised and eyebrow at her.

"Yeah?"

"I... I'll see you tomorrow."

Peridot stood there, dumbfounded. She didn't understand why Lapis was acting like this. She already said she was coming back, Lapis didn't need to act so clingy. "Right. See you tomorrow." With that she opened the door and shut it behind her. She slipped on her boots and made her way down the brick stairs and into her yard. She was glad she was helping someone like Lapis, but it was really uncomfortable for her to be near someone like this. Hopefully Lapis would act more normal soon.

* * *

(A/N: Okay, I finally got this chapter done. This one is pretty long but good. Also, I revised previous chapters and got fixed all the errors in it. I also made some minor changes to the story, mostly making Peridot shorter after someone made a really valid point about her height. I wouldn't say the changes are big enough to have to go back and reread them, but you can if you want. Again, thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed this owo)


	5. Chapter 5

"...Are you even listening to what I'm saying?"

Peridot looked up from her tablet at a very annoyed Jasper. "No." she stated bluntly and then went back to scrolling through the wall of text she was going over to ensure she was coding this program right. Jasper started saying something about how she was a loser but she quickly tuned her out. She wasn't really paying attention to anything at the moment. Even though she tried to get her eyes to focus of the numbers on her screen, her thought kept drifting to a certain blue haired girl she was suppose to meet with today.

She didn't know why, but she felt really excited about seeing her. She wondered what they would do together and what they would talk about. Maybe she could get Lapis to make her some food!

It was strange, the way Peridot felt. She had never really been excited about seeing anyone like this. Sure, when her and Amthyst first became friends she was always excited about seeing her but this was... Different. She didn't know how to explain it. Maybe it was because it was forbidden? Or maybe because Lapis was so naive and she could introduce her to new things? Whatever it was, it made Peridot practically fly out of her chair when the final bell rang, signalling that she could go home.

She quickly walked out of the classroom, stuffing her tablet into her sweater pocket and determined to get home as soon as possible.

"Peridot!" She heard Jasper scream before she was hit in the back of the head with something heavy. She fell forward onto the concrete, luckily catching herself with her hands before she landed on her face. However, it did cause her glasses to fall off and skid with a loud scrape. Peridot rubbed the back of her head and saw her backpack laying beside her. She turned back to see a red blur walking toward her and slowly began to recognize it as Jasper in her red T-shirt.

"You left your backpack there! You're lucky I saw it!"

"So you threw it at me!?" Peridot asked incredulously as she picked up her glasses and inspected them as best she could. "I'm reporting this!"

"Oh shut up, no you're not. I kept calling you and you kept walking away! I had to do something."

"Yeah, well now there's a scratch on my left lense." Peridot said setting the damaged item on her nose. She could still see, but there was a blur in the corner of her vision.

"You deserved it." Jasper said lightly kicking Peridot in her side. "You haven't been paying attention to anything all day. What's your problem?"

"What's my problem?" Peridot asked as she stood up and slung her backpack over her shoulder. "I'm not the one who just threw a 15 pound backpack at someone's head!"

"Drop it, princess." Jasper warned looking down at Peridot. Peridot glared at her but said nothing. There was no point in arguing with her. Besides, she was really distracted. She couldn't help herself. Lapis was just so interesting. "Now what's your problem?"

"Nothing! I'm just..." Peridot wasn't sure if she should tell Jasper about how she practically day dreaming about her neighbor. Jasper would probably come up with something retarded, like she had a crush on her or something. No, she couldn't tell her that. "I was just thinking about this code."

Jasper looked at her suspiciously. Jasper had known her for a long time and could usually tell when she was lying. She didn't know how the oaf did it, but she was perfect at reading Peridot's subtle hints. However, she either didn't actually catch on this time, or she just didn't care. "Whatever. Just be thankful I gave you your backpack."

"Right." Peridot said, rubbing the back of her head where she had been hit. She could already feel a bump beginning to form there. Good thing it was under all her hair so no one would notice. "Anyway, I gotta go."

"Fine. I'll see you on Monday then. And bring some Cheetoes with you!"

"I'll be sure to put that in my notes." Peridot muttered as she watched Jasper turn away and leave. She rolled her eyes and then continued on her original goal to get home.

Today's weather was a lot better. The sun was out with only a few clouds drifting by here and there. There was a slight breeze that brought in the salty smell of the ocean. Leaves gently fell from trees and onto the ground, crunching under Peridot's feet as she walked.

Again, her thoughts drifted to Lapis. She wondered how much time they would have together. From what she understood, Lapis's father didn't come home until late in the evening, which meant they would probably have a decent amount of time together if she kept up her fast pace. Then again, he could always come home early again. If that happened Peridot might get kicked out again. Although this time she would be prepared and could actually leave herself instead of being shoved out the door.

Thinking about all this, she didn't realize she was already at her house until she saw the driveway. She felt butterflies in her stomach as she turned her head to look at Lapis's house. However, her heart dropped when she saw what was there.

The blue truck was parked outside.

Which meant that Lapis's dad was home and Peridot couldn't go over there. It didn't make sense to her. Why would he be home this early? Had he somehow caught on to Peridot's being there or was he here for another reason? Whatever it was, Peridot didn't like it. She had been looking so forward to seeing Lapis and now she couldn't! What was his problem anyway? What kind of dad doesn't let his daughter have friends over and makes her have to sneak around just to have social interaction?

Peridot stomped all the way to her house, slamming her boots on the wooden stairs and shoving the front door open. She was so mad she almost didn't see the note left on the bar by the kitchen. She stopped to read it, seeing it was just a note from her mom saying she had to go to work and wouldn't be back until the next morning. That was fine with Peridot, it wasn't like she was going to do anything anyway.

She made her way to her bedroom and threw her backpack into a corner before opening her curtains to glare out at the blue truck. Not only was he inconveniencing Peridot, but who knew what he was doing to Lapis! The poor girl was so terrified of him, he obviously was not someone Peridot should like. She wished she could go over there right now and ask what was going on. But, again, she held herself back so she wouldn't make things worse for Lapis.

She reminded herself that she has only known Lapis for less then a week. There's no reason she should be getting so upset like this. It was just some girl that lived next door that she sometimes liked to visit. And just a few days ago she didn't even know Lapis existed, why should she be so worked up? Her feelings were starting to concern her a little bit. She should calm down and do something else, get her mind off of Lapis.

She sighed and turned away from the window, going to her desk and starting up her laptop. A few hours of gaming and blogging should help her.

* * *

By the time Peridot looked back up from her laptop she noticed it was already dark. She knew she wanted to play for a few hours but she didn't think it would be that long. She checked the time and saw that it was already past ten o'clock.

"How did I play for six hours...?" She asked herself. It wasn't unusual for her to do that but she was usually aware of the time when she did it. She hasn't even eaten yet. She stood up and stretched before walking out of her room and into the kitchen. She flipped on the light and rummaged around before settling on a couple of chocolate chip cookies and a soda. Not the best dinner in the world but food was food. She made her way back to her room, nibbling on her snack when she happened to look out her window. Lapis's house was completely dark and her dad's truck was gone.

It was odd, considering that he was normally gone during the day and came back at night. This was the perfect opportunity for her to go over there and check out what was happening. Abandoning her food on her desk, she slipped on her boots and went outside. It was cold so she hugged herself as she walked across her yard into Lapis's. She went up to the door and tried to open it like last time but it was locked. She looked around, maybe hoping to see something that could help her get in, but she saw nothing. She walked back down the stairs and around the house to the window she knew she Lapis's. She was too short to see inside but she could see that the curtains were open. She picked up a few pebbles off the ground and tossed them at the window.

She felt like this was totally cliche and would be completely embarrassed if she was doing this to any other friend, but her plan succeeded and the window was opened by a half asleep and confused Lapis.

"Who is it?" She asked as she yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"It's me again." Peridot said, realizing that this was the fourth time she had interrupted Lapis's sleeping. She felt bad for doing it and wished she had a little more sense than to purposely wake her up.

"Oh." Was all Lapis said. The two stood there in silence a moment before Peridot spoke up.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure." Lapis said. "I'll open the door." She closed the window and turned away. Peridot walked quickly to the front door just in time to see Lapis unlock it and let her it. She took off her boots and then walked inside the pitch black house. She could barely see Lapis in front of her and had no idea how Lapis had managed to walk through here half asleep without running into stuff.

"Uh, can we turn on a light?" She asked.

"No." Lapis said in a rather harsh tone. Peridot wasn't sure if Lapis sounded that way because she was tired or if it as because she was annoyed with her for waking her up. She began to feel guilty and wondered if she should leave or not.

"I-I'm sorry I woke you." She said, hoping that Lapis wasn't too mad at her.

"It's okay." Lapis said softly. "I was hoping you would come today."

Peridot raised her eyebrows in confusion. If Lapis wanted her to come then why did she sound angry? Unless there was a different reason. She remembered how her dad had been here today and she remembered her original reason for coming here.

"Why was your dad here today?" She asked into the darkness, hoping she was speaking in the right direction Lapis was in.

"No reason." Lapis replied.

"What? What do you mean 'no reason'? You told me he left during the day."

There was a long pause which made Peridot shiver. She didn't like this, whatever it was. The darkness, Lapis acting weird, the ominous silence. She knew she could change at least one thing so she quickly felt her way around the room.

"What are you doing?" Lapis asked as she listened to Peridot bump into furtinure and curse in pain. Peridot didn't answer and quickly found a lamp and switched it on. When the light turned on, she saw Lapis instantly turn around and face away from it. Peridot really wanted to know what was going on now.

"Why did you turn away?" She asked, walking to her. Lapis remained silent and stood still, lowering her head. Frustrated, Peridot grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face her. When she saw giant purple bruise on the side left side of Lapis's face, she gasped.

Lapis's eyes were filled with tears that looked like they were about to spill over any minute. "I said I didn't want the light on." She said in a quiet voice. Now it was Peridot's turn to go completely silent.

So many thoughts were going through her head at once. How did this happen? Why did this happen? What did Lapis's dad do to her and why didn't she want to tell her? Her face burned with rage knowing that he had done this horrible thing to her. That must've been what he was doing here today!

"Your dad did this, didn't he?" She asked. Already a few tears had streamed down Lapis's cheeks and she had turned her face away so Peridot couldn't see the bruise.

"It was my fault, I didn't do the dishes last night before he came home and-"

"He did this to you because you didn't wash dishes? Are you serious!?" Peridot took a step closer to Lapis and tried to put her hands on her shoulders but Lapis stepped back.

"You don't understand! You don't know what he's like!"

"I think I have a good idea if he would do something like this over something so stupid!" Peridot was furious that Lapis was trying to defend him after the awful thing he had done. "Let me see it. Does it hurt?"

She gently turned Lapis's face toward her own and Lapis made brief eye contact with her before looking away. "I'm fine, really." Peridot lifted her hand and lightly grazed the bruise with her fingertips. Lapis hissed in pain and jerked her head away.

"So it does hurt." Peridot said, letting her hand fall back to her side. She stared up at Lapis who continued to look away from her, a few tears falling from her eyes every couple of seconds. Finally, Lapis nodded her head and looked back at her.

"It hurts a lot." She admitted. Hearing the words come from Lapis's mouth made Peridot even angrier. She hated what he had done to her. She hated that she wasn't here to do anything about it and she hated that Lapis had tried to hide it. "After he came home last night, he saw that I hadn't done the dishes yet and got mad. He threw a bowl at me. He stayed home to make sure I got all my chores done."

"Oh my god!" Peridot yelled. Lapis flinched at Peridot's raised voice and Peridot instantly quieted her voice, not wanting to upset her more. "Why didn't you want to tell me?"

"Because..." Lapis hesitated and bit her lip. "Because it's not your problem. I didn't want the first friend I've had in years to have to deal with my problems."

"Lapis..." Peridot sighed and made her voice gentle yet firm. "I want to help you. If he ever does anything like this again, you come to me right away, got it? You don't have to deal with this. There are ways to stop this."

"I know." Lapis said, fresh tears running down her cheeks. "I know, but I can't. Please don't tell anyone. I don't think I could handle it."

Peridot could see and hear Lapis's desperation. She didn't understand why Lapis didn't want to have something done about this, but she did respect her decision. As long as she was here to help her, everything would be okay. She would help Lapis with this issue and it wouldn't be a burden to her like Lapis thought. She wrapped her arms gently around Lapis and held her close.

"I won't tell anyone if you promise to always tell me."

She felt Lapis's arms wrap around her and she heard Lapis choke out a sob. "Okay... I will."

Peridot patted Lapis's back and comforted her as best she could. She's has never been in this sort of situation before and wasn't exactly sure what to do. Whatever she did, it worked because Lapis's tears stopped and she was able to pull back and look her in the face.

"I'm really tired." Lapis said. Peridot could see her eyelids already drooping.

"Alright, let's get you back to bed." She took Lapis's hand and let her back to her room. The light was off but there was enough light from the living room to guide Lapis back to her bed. Lapis slipped under the blankets and Peridot stood there awkwardly, not really sure what to do with herself.

"I'll just... Go now." She said, and turned to leave. Lapis shot out of bed and grabbed her wrist so hard she was sure there would be a bruise there in the morning.

"No! Please stay with me tonight. He said he wouldn't be back until tomorrow afternoon since he skipped work today. It will be okay, please just stay."

Peridot hated the way Lapis sounded when she begged for her to stay. It sounded so desperate and fearful, as if Peridot was her only lifeline and she was scared that Peridot might pull the plug at any moment. She couldn't stand to see her like this. She had slept here once before, she could do it again.

"Okay. I'll stay. I'll just sleep on the couch-"

"No! I want to stay in here. With me."

Peridot felt a slight blush crawl into her cheeks. She wasn't exactly sure if she was understanding what Lapis was asking. "You want me to...?"

"Please, sleep with me? I know it might be weird, but I really need you close to me. I had a horrible day and I need someone to hold."

Peridots cheeks heat up more. While she had already accidentally cuddled with Lapis just yesterday, doing it on purpose made her even more embarrassed. She really didn't want to, but she couldn't just say no to her. After all she has been through, after all these years of not having anyone but her dad around, Lapis must be super clingy and craving attention. It made sense, but it didn't make Peridot feel any less awkward. Finally, she sighed and silently took off her sweater and slipped into bed next to Lapis. Even though she was still in her clothes, she would have to just sleep like that. She tried to keep her arms and legs as close to her as possible, but Lapis got closer to her. So close their forheads were nearly touching and she could feel Lapis's warm breath on her face. She expected herself to be really uncomfortable, considering she hated physical contact, but strangely she felt calm.

She felt happy and at peace. In fact, she liked Lapis's warmth and even scooted just a bit closer to steal some more of her warmth. She could tell from the pattern of the other girl' breathing that she was already asleep and that made her feel even better. She felt better knowing that Lapis wasn't awake to witness her being awkward and that Lapis was finally able to have some peace herself. She was upset that this had happened to her and she felt partially responsible. Maybe if she hadn't have come over yesterday and distracted Lapis she would've got the dishes done.

No, it wasn't her or Lapis's fault. There was no reason she had to get so severely assaulted over something so minor. The fact was, Lapis's dad was abusive and Peridot didn't like that. But she couldn't tell anyone. All she could do now was comfort Lapis and be there for her when she needed her most. She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her forehead completely againast Lapis's.

She promised she wouldn't let Lapis get hurt anymore.

* * *

(A:N: I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. My kitten died this week and none of us were prepared for it, so it's been rough. I hope this chapter isn't too boring and I hope you all enjoyed reading it. I'll do my best to get the next one up soon.)


	6. Chapter 6

Peridot's eyes slowly opened and she gazed about the room. Her arm dangled over the edge of the bed and her glasses were askew on her face. She had apparently forgotten to take them off last night. She grabbed them and threw them onto the floor before turning around and bringing the blanket up to her chin. When she was comfortable again, her eyes fluttered open for just a second and she saw a blur of blue right in front of her face. Seeing it made her snap her eyes open, completely forgetting where she was. She calmed down when she realized it was only Lapis's hair.

Peridot wondered if she should wake Lapis up. She had no idea what time it was and her phone was in her sweater on the floor. She supposed she could try to reach it, but just as she was about to turn over, she felt an arm drape around her waist. She froze, not sure what she should do now. She felt Lapis snuggle a bit closer to her and sighed in defeat. There was no point in trying now.

She tried to go back to sleep but she couldn't stop thinking about the girl next to her. She opened her eyes again and watched as Lapis slept. Her thin pink lips were slightly open and her cheeks were flushed a light pink. Being this close, she could see that Lapis had tiny freckles scattered around her face. She saw the dark bruise on Lapis's cheek and she felt a pang in her chest. The events of last night came flooding back to her and she once again felt protective of a girl she barely knew.

Peridot knew there was something wrong with herself but she didn't know what it was. There was no way she would be willing to get this close to someone (emotionally and physically) if there wasn't something wrong.

Unless there was nothing wrong with her at all.

Maybe this thing is... Right. Maybe how she felt was something good that she hadn't thought of yet. But what could it be? What would cause her to feel like this?

Peridot slowly lifted her hand to Lapis's face and brushed a few strands of hair away from her eyes. She accidentally grazed Lapis's bruise which caused the girl to squirm in her sleep. Peridot immediately took her hand away and held her breath, hoping she hadn't woken her up. Lapis stirred and turned over on her back to stretch her arms. When she brought her arm back down, her elbow hit Peridot in the nose which made her recoil back and fall off the bed.

"Ow!" Peridot yelled as she hit the floor. Lapis's head immediately shot over the edge of the bed and she gasped.

"I'm so sorry! I forgot you were there!"

"Thanks." Peridot said sarcastically. She sat up and Lapis reached out a hand to help her up. She took it and stood up.

"Are you okay?" Lapis asked looking her over with concern.

"I'll live." Peridot answered and looked on the ground for her glasses. She was worried that she had fallen on them but luckily she had thrown them far enough to be safe from her weight. She picked them up and set them on her face before turning around to see Lapis staring at her. She looked down at herself to see what Lapis was staring at, but there was nothing.

"You slept in your clothes?" Lapis asked.

"Yeah." Peridot shrugged. "It's not like I could've changed."

Lapis crawled off the bed and stood up. "I'm sorry I made you do that."

"It's... Not that big of a deal." Peridot picked her sweater up off the floor and slipped it on. She made an attempt to fix her hair but in the end she just threw her hood up to hide it.

"I know but..." Lapis rubbed her arm and shifted her eyes to the floor. "no one's done anything for me really. So even the little things are amazing."

Peridot felt like she was being given too much credit for the things she's done. Really, all the stuff she's done hasn't been that much. But with all that's happened to Lapis, it made sense.

"Yes, well..." Peridot fidgeted for a minute, trying to find the right words. "Maybe next time I'll have some warning so I can bring clothes."

Lapis's eyes lit up and she broke into a wide smile. "You mean there will be a next time?"

"Probably. I mean-" Peridot was cut off by an overly excited girl nearly knocking her to the ground with a tight hug. She cringed when the taller girl squealed right in her ear but it soon faded to giggling. Despite being assaulted, she did nervously pat her back. Lapis pulled away and held her back at arms length.

"I'm so happy! I'm glad we're friends."

"Y-yeah. Me too..." She was happy that they were friends. Lapis might not be the most tactful but she was glad she had her. It was a nice change to the usual craziness she encountered with her other friends. "But if we're going to be friends you need to not hug me so much."

"Sorry!" Lapis said stepping back and holding her hands up defensively. "I'll work on that."

Peridot smiled and looked toward the wall where a clock was and read the time. It was a little after 11 and if Lapis didn't want to get caught, she should leave. "I should probably go. It's late."

Lapis's expression changed from joy to sorrow. Peridot hated how her leaving made Lapis so upset and she wanted to change that as soon as possible. "Let me give you my number so you can text me."

"I don't have a cell phone."

"Oh." Peridot thought for a moment. Figures that her dad wouldn't give her one to cut her off from the world even more. "Do you have a landline?"

"Yes, but I'm only suppose to use it for emergencies."

"Great." Peridot went to Lapis's desk and began rummaging through it for something to write with. She found a pen and a piece of scrap paper and scribbled her number on it. She then handed it to Lapis. "If anything happens like, I dunno, your dad's being a jerk, then call me."

Lapis cautiously took the paper from her hand. "Okay..."

"And in the meantime, I'll continue doing what I've been doing and spying on your house to see when your dad is gone." She meant to say it as a joke but as soon as the words left her mouth she realized that it could be taken wrong. Lapis didn't seem to notice, however, because she was staring at the small paper in her hand. There was uncomfortable silence and Peridot shifted from foot to foot before speaking up.

"I should... go now."

Lapis finally looked up like she had no idea what was going on. Realization hit her and she nodded. "Ah... Alright. I'll follow you to the door."

Peridot walked out of the room and into the living room. Lapis followed her until they were both standing at the door. Peridot wasn't used to someone escorting her out the door. She went to other people's houses so little that it didn't cross her mind for anyone to do this. It was nice though, to know Lapis cared enough to do that. Before she opened the front door she turned around to Lapis.

"I'll see you later." She had learned that it was best to say goodbye to Lapis with the promise that she would return. Lapis seemed to like that because she smiled.

"Okay." Peridot began to open the door when Lapis tapped her shoulder. She turned around, wondering what Lapis could want now.

"Peridot, I..." Lapis paused and shifted her eyes to anywhere but the green pair in front of her. Before Peridot had time to react, Lapis quickly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Peridot. She pulled back almost immediately "Thank you for staying with me. And sorry for the hug."

Peridot tensed and blushed, shocked at how fast Lapis moved. "No problem..." They stood there staring for a second before Peridot turned back to the door

"Um... Bye." She then turned the handle and opened the door and stepped out into the chill morning air. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it for a a second.

That was really strange of Lapis to do. She knew that Lapis thanked her, which is normal for someone to do, but what was up with that hug? It was somehow different from other hugs she had gotten from anyone before. She didn't think it was a bad thing, in fact, she kind of liked it. Which was also strange because she had just said that she didn't like hugs.

Peridot decided she need to get out of here fast. She threw on her boots and walked off the porch. She jogged back to her house and up her own steps. She opened the door which was surprisingly unlocked. She assumed she had left it unlocked last night until she walked in and found her mom sitting on the couch.

Crap! She forgot her mom was coming home this morning. And she was so distracted with Lapis's hug to notice the car outside.

"Peridot!" Her mom stood up and she froze. She tried to look around for some sort of distraction but there was none. If she was going to get out of this, she would have to just run. "I've been calling you all morning!"

"You have?" Peridot pulled out her phone and saw that she had missed 8 calls from her mom since her phone was on silent. She had also missed a few from Jasper, which wasn't a surprise since Jasper usually called her for stupid things.

"You're lucky I was able to get a hold of Jasper, otherwise I wouldn't have even known where you were."

"Jasper told you where I was?" she asked. How would Jasper know where she had been?

"Yes, thank god." Her mom sighed. "Next time leave a note or answer your phone. I was worried sick about you."

"I'm... I'm sorry, mom." Peridot said, looking down. She did feel bad but she also really wanted to find out what Jasper had told her mom. Why would Jasper tell her anything in the first place?

"I have to go to the store to pick up a few things. Do you need anything?"

"Nope, I'm good." Peridot replied, although she wasn't really paying attention. She began walking to her room and scrolling through her contacts for Jasper's number.

"I'll be back in an hour." Mom called after her. She ignored her and closed the door to her room, bringing the phone to her ear. It rang a few times before it was answered by a very loud voice.

" _Helloooo_?"

Peridot instantly knew who the voice was and pinched the bridge of het nose in frustration. It was Jasper's annoying twin sister who was even crazier than Jasper.

"Why do you have Jasper's phone, Mala?"

" _Because I can_!"

"Well give it back, I need to talk to her."

" _What do I get in return?"_

"The satisfaction of knowing that I won't beat your face in with a bat, now give the phone to Jasper!"

" _Well, that's not very nice! Now I don't feel like letting you talk to her!"_

Peridot sucked in a breath and tried to calm herself. Why did everyone insist on making her life difficult?

"May I please speak to your sister?"

" _Let me think... No!"_

The phone was hung up and Peridot was left standing there like an idiot. She threw her phone on her bed and growled. There was no point in calling Jasper back since Mala would just harass her more. She would either have to call her back later in the day or wait until Monday to ask her about it.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair to calm herself down. There was nothing else she could do about this until she talked to Jasper.

She looked toward her window and saw the blue truck sitting outside of Lapis's house. It's a good thing she left when she did, although she wished she could have stayed longer. She wanted to be as close to Lapis as possible but she still didn't understand why. It was frustrating her and she wanted it to stop. She needed something to distract herself.

She supposed she could work on her homework so she wouldn't have to worry about it the rest of the weekend. She didn't want to think about her her boarderline obsession with Lapis and decided she would work on anything that needed to get done. And, as much as he didn't like admitting it, getting important things out of the way would leave her with more time to visit Lapis.

* * *

(A/N: Sorry this chapter is so late. There's been a lot going on with holidays and family affairs, bluh. But I finally got it done so yay. Thanks again for all the reviews and I will try to get the next chapter posted as fast as possible. Thanks for reading~)


	7. Chapter 7

Peridot clicked away on the keyboard of her laptop, continuing to write out the code she had been working on for a while. It had been a whole day since she left Lapis's house and her dad was still there. Jasper had not called her back so she hadn't figured out that situation yet. Now she was trying to test out a new code but it was really hard for her to concentrate. All throughout the day she kept thinking about Lapis.

She wondered what was going on over there, if he was treating her right or not. Every once in a while her thoughts would take a turn for the worst and she would have to sit back for a second to calm herself. There was no way he would do anything that bad. Although anything he did to her was reason enough to make Peridots blood boil and want to punch him in the face. It wasn't healthy for her to be thinking about someone this much but she couldn't stop. She needed to make sure Lapis was okay.

She had checked on Lapis's house every once in a while to see if he was gone. When it was night, she tried to stay awake to keep watch, but she ended up falling asleep. She woke up early and saw that all the lights were off, meaning that Lapis was able to sleep. At least she hoped that was the case. She decided she needed to keep herself busy from going completely insane.

Just as Peridot was nearing the end of her code, she noticed she had forgotten to put semi colons at the end of each line. It went on like that for about 100 lines and she couldn't remember where they were suppose to go. How could she make such a big mistake like that!? All of this was useless now and she would have to start over! She growled in frustration and slammed her laptop closed.

She looked out her window to Lapis's house. Her dad was still there and thinking about all the awful things he could be doing to that poor girl made Peridot glare at the house. If looks could kill, the house would be on fire by now. She felt a little bit better knowing that Lapis now had a way to contact her if things got bad.

Peridot wanted to do more for Lapis but she promised she wouldn't say anything to anyone. She was glad she could keep Lapis company in the meantime. She liked being able to go to Lapis's house and spend time with such a great girl. She wanted to see Lapis smile at her, to see her hair clipped back to show off her lovely face, to feel her arms wrapped around her again in one of her soft hugs.

Peridot snapped her head away from the window and looked down at her lap. Was it weird of her to be thinking of Lapis like that? It sounded weird to her and she wanted it to stop. All these thoughts and feelings she had towards Lapis were starting to scare her and she was afraid she might have some new mental disorder. A strange disorder that made her obsess over people.

The sound of a car door closing made her turn her head back to the window. She saw the blue truck start up and begin to back out of the driveway. Her heart beat sped up considerably as she watched it leave. Finally, her dad was gone and she could go visit her! She quickly tossed aside all unsettling feelings she had and got up and threw on something more appropriate to wear other than just a shirt and her underwear. She ran a comb through her hair to make it look a little more decent and then put on her boots. She made sure to leave a note for her mom this time in case she came back saying she was going out. She then left her house and made her way over to Lapis's once again.

She knocked on Lapis's door and heard some rustling inside, but no one answered the door. She knocked again and this time the door was opened just enough for Lapis to stick her head out.

"Oh, hi." She said.

"Hi...?" Usually by now Lapis would be opening the door wider to let her in. Instead she acted like Peridot was a stranger not to be let into the house. Panic started to bubble in her stomach. "Is everything alright?"

"Uh..." Lapis hesitated and looked over her shoulder. "Do you think you could come back later? The house is... Kind of a mess."

Relief flooded over her. It was just a messy house that Lapis was concerned about, nothing too serious. "I'm sure it's not that bad."

"Well..." She could see Lapis squirming uncomfortably behind the door and then she finally opened it more. She stepped inside and was instantly hit with an overpowering smell of alcohol mixed with stale cigarettes and other various scents she couldn't begin to place. She brought her hand up to her mouth to filter the air through her sweater sleeve and looked around at the once perfectly clean house completely trashed.

Empty beer bottles, food wrappers, bits of papers, and food were spread out all over the floor. The cushions on one of the couches were all ripped off and laying on the chair. The coffee table was littered with a half eaten sandwich, cigarette buds, and some liquid that was now dried and sticky. Peridot didn't even know if the other rooms of the house were this dirty, she was so focused on the room in front of her.

"What happened?" She asked gaping at everything.

"My dad had some friends over late last night and they got a bit... Rowdy." Lapis replied.

"A bit rowdy? It looks like there was riot!"

"I know it looks bad, but this kind of thing happens all the time." Peridot turned around to Lapis and saw that her eyes started to water. "I just have to clean it and then..."

"Did he hurt you?" Peridot demanded, already feeling herself getting angry. With the house as trashed and as it was and Lapis's reaction, it wouldn't surprise her if he had done something to her. Lapis was quick to shake her head.

"No, he didn't do anything to me. I stayed in my room the whole time." She bit her lip. "I just didn't want you to see this. I need to get it all cleaned up and then we can do something together and-"

"No." Peridot cut her off. "I'm not letting you clean this yourself."

"What?"

Peridot already rolled up her sleeves and began picking up the garbage on the floor. "Whoever could leave a mess like this is repulsive and you shouldn't have to clean other people's messes by yourself."

"But-"

"Think of this as me doing you a favor. You can owe me something later." Peridot said, smirking. Lapis seemed to relax a little at that. While Peridot hated cleaning, especially messes this big, she didn't want Lapis to do this all by herself. She had been doing things by herself for long enough and Peridot wanted to be someone she could lean on at times like this.

The two of them worked together picking up garbage, wiping up spills, sweeping and vacuuming the floor, neither of them saying anything. Peridot wasn't sure if it was because Lapis was still ashamed or she still wasn't used to having someone around. Either way, Peridot decided to break the silence by telling her a story about another time she had to clean a mess even bigger than this. In freshman year, Jasper and Amethyst had snuck into the school gymnasium to have a party and in the morning they called her and Pearl to help clean it up since they were too hung over to do it themselves.

"I thought the whole thing was hilarious, even though it was annoying that they called us." Peridot told her as she brushed crumbs off the couch. "You should've seen the look on Pearl's face when we got there."

Lapis laughed and she was glad she was able to make her feel better. Slowly, she was getting Lapis to open up and act more normally.

"It sounds like you really like your friends." Lapis commented.

"I guess. I mean, they're all pretty obnoxious. But they can be fun sometimes."

"I can't wait to meet them." Lapis said with a dreamy tone in her voice.

Peridot turned around to look at her. "Er... what?"

"You said I could meet them. Remember?"

Peridot did recall saying that she could meet her friends one day, but she hadn't been serious. She was just saying that so she could leave as fast as possible. Apparently Lapis thought she had been serious and now she was in an awkward position. To make matters worse, as if on cue, her phone rang. She took it out of her pocket and saw that Jasper was finally calling her back. And now of all times!

"Hello?"

 _"Hey, I saw I missed a call from you! Sorry, my dumbass sister stole my phone."_

"I know, she answered when I called. I need to talk to you."

 _"Sure, what is it?"_

Peridot turned back to Lapis and, through a series of wild hand gestures, managed to tell her that she was going outside to talk. Lapis understood and continued to clean while Peridot went outside.

"What did you tell my mom yesterday when she called you?"

 _"That you were at my house."_

"But I wasn't at your house and you knew that."

 _"I know. But your mom was freaking out so I had to say something. I covered for you and now you owe me an explanation."_

"I never asked you to do that."

 _"No, but I still want to know where you really were."_

"I don't have to tell you anything."

 _"You do, and you will! You've been acting weird all week and I want to know why."_

Peridot did admit that she hasnt been the same since she met Lapis. She also admitted that she owed Jasper some sort of explaination but she couldn't tell her the real reason. She would just have to make something up.

"Fine! Since you want to know so badly. I was..." She wasn't sure what to say. "...at my neighbors house."

 _"Your neighbor's? Doing what?"_

Peridot was so bad at lying she wasn't sure if she could pull this off. "...Taking care of her dog?"

There was a pause. _"Peridot that sounds like a lie."_

"I-It's not!"

 _"If you don't tell me the real reason I'm gonna come over there to see what's up."_

"Don't come over!" Peridot sighed. The last thing she wanted was for Jasper to come barging over to demand what was going on. She was going to have to tell her. She lowered her voice so Lapis wouldn't be able to hear. "Can you keep a secret?"

 _"Probably."_

"Jasper, I'm serious."

 _"Fine, yes. What is it?"_

"My neighbor is... She's..." She struggled to find the right way to say this without making it sound too bad. "She's in a difficult situation."

 _"What does that even mean?"_

"She's..."

 _"Just say it, damn it!"_

"She's being abused!" She blurted. She lowered her voice again to explain it further. "You can't tell anyone about it-"

 _"What!? How can you expect me to not say anything to anyone? If she's being abused she needs help!"_

"Thats why I was at her house! She doesn't want me to tell anyone but she is letting me help her."

 _"How are you helping her?"_

"You just have to trust me on this!" She was frustrated that Jasper wasn't being more understanding of this. "I have things under control. Just, please, don't tell anyone. I need her to trust me."

There was a long pause on Jasper's end and then finally she heard her sigh. _"Okay, I won't tell anyone. But I want to meet her."_

"Why?"

 _"So I know she's okay. I want to help too, you know how I feel about abuse."_

Peridot was aware about Jasper's strong feelings towards abusive violence. Despite what most people thought, Jasper was actually a very gentle person who felt that strong people should only fight people that could take them, not weaker people. Besides, Lapis already wanted to meet her friends. This could be a good opportunity. "Okay, you can meet her. But I'll tell you when you can come. She'll need time to prepare."

 _"Alright, that sounds fine. I'll talk to you then. And, hey, you take care of her, okay?"_

"Dont worry. I'm more upset about it than you are."

They said goodbye and hung up. Peridot took a minute to compose herself. She wasn't able to keep her promise to Lapis. She had told someone what was going on. She felt really bad but she didn't have a choice. Maybe everything would be okay since Jasper said she wouldn't say anything.

She went back inside and saw Lapis coming back from the kitchen. She dusted off her skirt and looked up at Peridot.

"I just finished up the dishes. I still need to put them away, but they can airdry for now and we can do something more fun." Lapis said.

"Thats good." Peridot said. Now she didn't know what to tell Lapis. "I just talked to my friend and... Maybe you can meet her."

"Really?" Lapis asked excitedly.

"Yes, but later. I don't know when you'll meet, but you can."

"Thats great!" Lapis sighed. "To think that I can have friends after such a long time!"

Peridot felt bad that she couldn't tell her the full reason why Jasper wanted to meet her, but she was glad that Lapis was looking forward to it. At least one good thing could come from this.

"Thank you for helping me clean, Peridot." Lapis said. She smiled and Peridot felt her heart flutter when she saw it. "Why don't I make dinnner for us and you can tell me about your friend so I know what to expect!"

Peridot sighed, grateful that things were starting to calm down, at least for the moment. She got to eat another one of Lapis's delicious meals and spend time with her. It made her feel a lot better and she could relax. "Alright, I'll tell you but trust me, I could tell you everything about Jasper and she'll still surprise you."

Lapis laughed at that and Peridot thought it was the most beautiful sound she'd ever heard.

* * *

(A/N: I'm sorry that it took me so long to get another chapter up again! First I was sick and then I had really bad creative block, so I'm sorry if the story falls flat. But I think this chapter turned out okay and I hope you enjoyed reading it.

Someone asked if this story was going to turn into smut later on, and to answer that: I don't think so. I've thought about it but I've never written smut before and I don't think it would fit into the story. The love in this is more innocent, I think.

Some people were also curious about Lapis's father. For now, I'm keeping his character vague, but it is someone I made up. There's a dark secret about him that you all can look forward to finding out in later chapters. I think I finally know where I'm going with this.

Anyway, thanks for the reviews, they're really encouraging and I'm glad so many people are liking this. With thanksgiving break, I hope to get a lot of writing done, so look out for new chapters~)


	8. Chapter 8

"Lapis, you're dying again."

"I am? How can you tell?"

"You see that flashing red bar at the top? That means you're dying, use a potion."

"How do I do that again?"

The past few days, the two girls spent as much time as they could together. Every day, Peridot would go over to Lapis's house after school and stay there until the last possible second. She enjoyed the time they had together, even if Lapis didn't understand most of the things she did. As a result of them being together, Peridot was able to find out new things about Lapis.

Lapis told her about how she loves swimming and her favorite genre of music is alternative rock. Even though Peridot had difficulty revealing things about herself, she did tell Lapis a few things. She discovered that the two of them got along a lot better than she thought they would. Normally Peridot only got along with people who had a personality close to her own. Her and Amethyst got along great because they both had the same sense of humor and a lot of interests. Her and Lapis were totally different. But because they were so different, she felt like Lapis was able to fill the areas she was lacking in.

Every day she felt her feelings for the other girl growing stronger. If her arm brushed against Lapis's, a slight tingle would trail its way up her arm. When Lapis would smile about something, she would smile too. Peridot was starting to think this feeling she had wasn't sympathy or pity. It couldn't be that if it was making her so happy just to be near Lapis. She still couldn't figure out what it was exactly, though. She had too much to think about.

Both Jasper and Lapis would question her every day about when they were going to meet each other. Jasper was more aggressive about it, demanding to know when to come over, while Lapis was more innocent and politely asked when she was going to meet her friend. Peridot had wanted to stall for as long as possible before they met so she could talk to Jasper more about the situation. She made sure Jasper understood not to mention her knowledge about it to Lapis and not to say anything to her that might upset her.

She also made her swear not to say anything to her mom. While Peridot didn't normally lie to her mom, this was something she couldn't bring up to her. Her mom was a nurse and therefore a mandated reporter to situations like these. If her mom found out what was going on with Lapis, she would be obligated to go to the authorities. She couldn't risk something like that so she made sure Jasper wouldn't utter a word.

Once she confirmed that everything would be okay, she set up a date for them. She told Jasper as soon as she got to school, and Lapis as soon as she got home. Lapis was overjoyed and couldn't contain herself from throwing her arms around Peridot and practically lifting her in the air. She then rushed around her house making sure everything was in perfect order so she wouldn't have to worry about anything while she was gone.

But when it came time for her to actually leave, she would stall and say there was one more thing to do, or she needed to fix her hair. It seemed like she was nervous about leaving, although Peridot could clearly see that she wanted to go. Finally, Peridot forced Lapis to stop worrying and to just come to her house, and then discovered that the girl didn't own any shoes. That was probably why Lapis had been so nervous and put off leaving until the last minute. Lapis saw how upset Peridot was and was quick to reply that she didn't like wearing shoes anyway. Even though Peridot was used to hearing about ridiculous things Lapis was forced into by her dad, it still made her angry, especially when Lapis would find a way to defend him.

Now they were both at Peridot's house sitting on the couch and playing video games until Jasper got there. Her mom was at work again so they had the house to themselves for the time being. Lapis seemed ecstatic to be out of the house for the first time in forever, and Peridot was glad that she got to sit next to her and occasionally move her arm around her to show her the right buttons to press.

"This one, Lazuli." Peridot said, leaning over Lapis's shoulder to point to the L2 button. Lapis gave her a look, apparently still not understanding why Peridot gave her that nickname, although she had already explained the gemstone to her.

"Oh, right." Lapis said. She pressed it and smiled with satisfaction.

"Jasper is already twenty minutes late, where is she?" Peridot cried, looking at her phone for the time. She hated when people were late.

"Maybe something happened to her?" Lapis said with a worried look on her face. Peridot just scoffed.

"Yeah, maybe she did us all a favor and drove off a cliff." Right as she said that, there was banging on the door that was so loud it made Lapis jump. Peridot acted like it was nothing and got up to answer it, mumbling about how it was about time she showed up.

"Finally decided to grace us with your presence, huh?" Peridot asked as she opened the door. Jasper just laughed and waved her off as she pushed past her into the house.

"Sorry, I had to help my dad with a few things."

Peridot made a noise of acknowledgement and shut the door. She turned around to see Lapis stand from the couch and look wide eyed between her and Jasper. She had warned Lapis that Jasper was a bit intimidating, but maybe she hadn't realized what she meant. She also might have forgotten to mention Jasper's skin condition, which was a little frightening to someone who wasn't used to see it.

"You must be Lapis." Jasper said extending her hand to the smaller girl. Lapis glanced between it and Jasper's face before flicking her eyes to Peridot. She nodded to Lapis to show that Jasper would most likely not crush her hand. Lapis took it cautiously and they shook hands, Jasper being a lot more careful than she usually was.

"I like your hair." Jasper complimented.

"Th-thank you." Lapis said. She gave her a nervous smile and looked back at Peridot. She gave a slight nod as encouragement for her to go on, and Lapis smiled widely at Jasper. "I dye it every few months so it keeps its color."

"Nice." Jasper smiled. "It's good you meet you. I hope Peri hasn't bored you to death with all of her nerd talk." She laughed at her own joke.

"I wouldn't say 'bore me'. More like... confuses me a lot." Jasper laughed more which made Lapis laugh too. Peridot groaned. Not even five minutes after they met and Jasper was already getting Lapis to make fun of her. Couldn't anything go right for her?

"I see she's teaching you to play one of the lamest games in the world." Jasper said, nodding toward the paused game. Lapis shrugged.

"Its kinda fun."

"That game is shit." Jasper said moving around Lapis to the game console. She carelessly sifted through Peridot's games as if she owned the place. "Good thing I came around to show you what's really good. Is that game that Amethsyt brought still here? The one with the zombies?"

Peridot growled and moved behind her to pick up the games she had thrown to the floor. "Watch what you're doing! And to answer your question, yes, I do believe the game you're speaking of is here. But , trust me, the one I have here is much more intellectually stimulating. There's math involved, it helps build hand-eye coordination-"

"Booooring!" Jasper interrupted. She then found the game she wanted, and inserted it into the console before Peridot could object more. Seeing there was nothing more she could do, Peridot huffed and sat down on the couch, folding her arms. Lapis giggled at her frustration, and then sat next to Jasper so she could learn how to play her game.

To Peridot's surprise, Jasper and Lapis got along really well. She had expected Jasper to be the meathead she was and offend Lapis in some way. Instead, she acted completely different. Sure, she still made vulgar remarks and teased Lapis a bit, but not the way she normally did. Perhaps that was because Jasper felt bad for Lapis and wanted to get along with her. Lapis seemed to take a liking to her, laughing at her jokes and then coming up with a few sarcastic comments of her own.

Eventually, Peridot decided that with how well things were going, it wouldn't help if she sat and pouted the whole time. She reluctantly played the game with them, enjoying it just a little. Occasionally, she would let Lapis win the matches she had against her. When that would happen, Lapis would scream "Yes!" and her and Jasper would high-five. Peridot acted like she hated that someone had beat her, but she really didn't mind. Every once in a while when she would glance towards Jasper, she would see her giving her an impish grin. She wasn't sure what it meant, but she didn't like it.

When the time came for Jasper to leave, Lapis looked a little sad. Jasper noticed this and gave her a pat on the back and showed her how to do a fist bump. This seemed to lighten her a bit more, and they said their goodbyes. Before Jasper walked out the door, she ruffled Peridot's hair a bit and then winked at her with a smirk.

What was that all about? Peridot wondered as she watched Jasper leave and shut the door. She fixed her hair, readjusting the clip she had that kept her bangs pushed to the side and turned back to the living room. She saw that the three of them had a made a bit of a mess. Lapis seemed to notice it too, and offered to help her clean before she left for her own home.

"So how did you like the giant clod?" Peridot asked, trying to make conversation.

"Jasper? She was... A little scary. I thought she was a boy at first." She admitted sheepishly and chuckled. "Boys make me nervous."

Peridot nodded, understanding how someone could mistake Jasper for a boy. She had broad shoulders, masculine features, and never cared too much for feminine clothing. "A lot of people think that."

"I don't think I've ever seen a girl so... Muscular." Lapis said, grimacing a bit.

"Neither have I." Peridot replied. "She was always a big girl, but she got even bigger with all of her dad's training."

"Training?"

"Yeah, her dad works in the military. When she was around 10 he started making her and her sister do training exercises so they could protect themselves if anything should happen." She explained. "She didn't like it at first, but then she started enjoying it and now she trains herself. Her dad is really proud of her."

"I see. What about her..." Lapis trailed off and then gestured to her face and arms. Peridot understood what she was trying to say.

"It's a condition called vitiligo. It occurs when the cells that produce melanin die or stop functioning in a person's skin. Don't worry," she added, sensing Lapis's concern. "it's not contagious at all. It's genetic, I believe she gets it from her mother's side."

"Oh." Lapis said. She looked at her hands, turning them back and forth. "I don't know what traits I got from my mom. I never knew her."

"What happened to her?" Peridot asked.

"She died a few minutes after I was born." Lapis admitted, looking down. "I've seen a few pictures of her, but they weren't very good ones."

Peridot was silent for a moment. "I-I'm sorry." She said softly.

It's okay." Lapis reassured her. "There's no use in being sad over someone I don't know. I just wish I had known her." Peridot nodded in understanding. Lapis then stood up from the couch.

"I should go. It's late and I need to start dinner before my dad gets home." She smiled and brushed a lock of blue hair behind her ear. "Thanks for letting me come over. Can I give you a hug?"

Peridot slowly stood up, still trying to comprehend what Lapis had told her. But she wasn't about to pass up a hug from the only person she actually enjoyed getting hugs from. "Fine, I guess so."

She acted like she was annoyed, but the truth was she melted as soon as Lapis's arms grazed her shoulders. She smiled and took in all the warmth Lapis gave her. She loved the way Lapis smelled and how her soft hair would tickle Peridot's face. She was disappointed when Lapis pulled back, ending the hug and all its warmth, but she played it off as if she didn't care.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She watched as Lapis went to door, throwing one last smile over her shoulder before leaving. Peridot stood there for a moment, her heart still pounding and the ghost of Lapis's arms still around her body. She adjusted her glasses to compose herself and made her way to her room where she peeked out her window to see Lapis walk up her steps and into the house. She felt bad for her, losing her mother and being left to be raised by an abusive father. Maybe as time went on, she would learn and understand why Lapis chose to stay there.

She flopped down on her bed, trying to calm herself down. Ever since she met Lapis, her life has gotten much more exciting, whether it's it was finding out that Lapis was being held prisioner or her own feelings going wild. Even though the feeling annoyed her, she didn't want it to go away.

She rolled over, pulling a pillow closer to her and hugging it. She felt a little hungry, but she didn't feel like getting up. Having Jasper and Lapis around together made her tired, even if Jasper was a lot more calm today, she still felt drained. She groaned and thought to herself that it would be nice if Lapis was here right now. It was nice to have someone to share a bed with. Even if she didn't like cuddling, just knowing someone was there made her smile. Right now, her bed felt a bit lonely. Despite that, she still managed to drift off to sleep, thinking about gentle, deep blue eyes as beautiful as the water of the ocean.

* * *

(A/N: I am so sorry about this chapter being so late. If I ever say that I'm going to get a chapter posted soon, assume I am lying. Things always come up that make me unable to write. But, whoo! at least I finally got it up. Thanks for all the kind reviews, you people are so nice ;u; I hope that I'm writing Peridot's feeling correctly and going at a good pace for her realizing them. It takes me forever to figure out when I like someone, but I'd like to speed up Peridot's a little more than mine. I also hope this chapter was enjoyable and I'll get the next on posted whenever I get around to it. Thanks for reading~)


	9. Chapter 9

Peridot walked through the halls of her school, her phone in her hand as she read an eBook on it. Her mom had been home this morning and offered to give her a ride, but as a result she ended up getting there way too early. There were hardly any people around, mostly just teachers that were getting ready for the day's lessons. At least it was nice and quiet just the way she liked it. She wanted to talk to Jasper today to see how she had liked Lapis, since the whole thing had been set up on her insistance. She knew that she probably wouldn't run into her any time soon, though, so she occupied herself with a book.

She glanced up from her phone and saw Amethyst sitting on a bench, eating something that was probably gross. At least someone was here that she could tolerate. She locked the screen and slipped the phone into her pocket before making her way over to Amethyst.

"Hey, Peri!" Amethyst said around the food in her mouth. She grabbed one of the things she was eating out of a bag and handed it to her. "Want one?"

"Uh..." Peridot took it between her thumb and index finger for inspection. It looked like a grape smothered in peanut butter squished between two animal crackers. She frowned at it and then tossed it over her shoulder. "No. What are you doing here so early? I thought you liked to sleep in?"

"I do, but I spent the night at Pearl's last night and she wanted to get here early so she could practice ballet or whatever."

"Oh." Peridot nodded. She turned her head when she heard someone running down the hall towards them. She recognized it as Ruby, a girl she was acquainted with through mutual friends. Ruby stopped in front of them, a small, dark grey box under her arm. She bent over, gasping and breathing heavily as if she had just run a marathon.

"Dude, are you okay?" Amethyst asked. Ruby nodded and then sucked in one last deep breath before she began breathing normally again.

"I'm fine. I've just been running for a really long time." She said as she adjusted her headband.

"Why?" Amethyst asked.

"Because I wanted to get here on time so I could give this to Sapphire!" She held the box out to Amethyst and smiled proudly, as if Amethyst was automatically suppose to know what was in it.

"What's that?" Amethyst sat forward. "Is it a box of chocolates? I hope it's chocolate!"

Ruby laughed and opened it. "No, it's this!"

With mild curiosity, Peridot leaned over to see what it was as well. Inside were two bracelets with silver chains and a little red gem on each one.

"Cool!" Amethyst said. "What are they?"

"Braclets! I bought them yesterday so Sapphire and I can wear them!" She explained. "See these things? Those are garnets. The lady at the store said they're suppose to bind two people together!"

Peridot frowned, not understanding why anyone would buy jewelry just because someone said there was something special about it. Clerks used those kind of tactics all the time to get people to buy stuff. Besides, gemstones can't have any significant meaning, they were just clusters of minerals grouped together to form a pretty rock.

"That's awesome!" Amethyst declared.

"I know!" Ruby shouted. "Do either of you know if my baby is here yet?"

"Nope."

"I haven't seen her."

"Ugh!" Ruby growled and looked up in frustration. "You mean I ran all the way here for nothing?"

"Well, school kinda doesn't start for another half hour so... Yes." Amethyst said. "But, hey, she'll probably be here later!"

"You're right!" Ruby tucked the box under her arm again. "I'm gonna go wait in the parking lot for her!"

With that she ran off again, leaving them alone again. Peridot watched her leave and turned back to Amethyst when she heard her laugh.

"Those two are such dweebs. In an adorable way." She added.

"Don't you find them a little... Uncomfortable?" Peridot asked.

"No, why?"

"I mean, they center their whole lives around each other!" Peridot said. "Its like they're joined at the hip! Once I saw them sharing a sweater at the same time! They were both in it! They're just so... Disturbing."

"Eh." Amethyst shrugged. "They just love each other. It's no big deal."

Peridot thought a moment. One part of her felt like she understood how the two girls felt about each other, but the logical half of her was telling her it didn't make any sense at all.

"C'mon, I'm bored, let's go harass Pearl!" Amethyst declared as she stood up.

"Fine. It's better than sitting here." She said, and stood up to follow the shorter girl. But her mind was still occupied with trying to understand why Ruby and Sapphire were the way they were.

* * *

Peridot wasn't able to find Jasper until later in the day when they had a class together. Luckily, this happened to be the class where the teacher was really relaxed with the students, so they were able to do what they wanted without being reprimanded.

"What's up, Peri?" Jasper greeted as she sat down at her desk.

"I've been looking for you." Peridot said in almost an accusatory way.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yes. I wanted to ask you what you thought of Lapis." Peridot explained.

"She was sweet." Jasper said, leaning on her desk. "If you hadn't told me she was being abused I wouldn't be able to tell. I feel kinda bad for her, a girl like that shouldn't have to deal with that shit. She's an angel! Super cute, too."

Peridot felt a twisted feeling in her stomach, a feeling one could describe as jealousy. She turned her head sharply to Jasper and saw her giving her that strange grin she had yesterday.

"What do you mean?" Peridot said, squinting her eyes.

"You know what I mean." Jasper gave her a playful shove.

"No, I don't."

"You don't need to be shy, I know you like her." Jasper insisted.

"Of course I like Lapis. She's my friend." Peridot rolled her eyes. Honestly, Jasper could be such a clod sometimes.

"I mean, you _like_ like her."

Peridot paused, making sure she understood correctly what Jasper had said. When it finally settled in, she laughed.

"What's so funny?" Jasper asked. She seemed confused by Peridot's reaction.

"I can't like Lapis!" Peridot said.

"Why not?"

Peridot turned to her and gave her a scowl. "She's a girl! I can't have any romantic feelings for a girl! Especially not Lapis!"

"Gender doesn't matter, Peri. I've seen the way you look at her." Jasper said, coyly. "You can't tell me you haven't noticed her cute lips, her smooth skin or her soft hazel eyes."

"Her eyes are blue, genius!"

"And you just proved my point." Jasper said with a smirk. Peridot was so angry with how cocky and confident she looked that she growled and slammed her hands on her desk. She turned a lot of heads her way, including the teacher's. Her face, which was already bright red from Jasper's accusations, burned even more from embarrassment and she sank down into her chair. She sharply turned to Jasper and glared at her.

"I'm not having this conversation with you anymore!" She hissed at her. Jasper laughed and she turned away and pretended to be working on something that was so important it needed all of her attention. But the truth was, she couldn't stop thinking about what Jasper had said.

And she continued thinking about it for the rest of the day. She couldn't concentrate on anything! Jasper had completely ruined her day by making up some ridiculous theory that she had a crush on Lapis. That wasn't true at all!

Peridot didn't have time for romantic nonsense. Even when she was younger, while most little girls would be dreaming about their weddings and what kind of man they would marry, Peridot was thinking about important things, like her career and her grades. She never pictured herself marrying some man and starting a family, it just seemed like something that didn't interest her.

There was a point in time where she was curious about why people made such a big deal out of relationships. She had wanted to test out one of her own for scientific research on it. But when it came to finding someone that she would be able to tolerate for this project, she found no one. Nobody met any of her standards so she gave up.

But she felt like Lapis was... Different. Lapis was someone she got along well with almost instantly, which wasn't something that happened very often. She couldn't help but like the way Lapis bit her lip whenever she was thinking, or the way she felt whenever Lapis gave her a hug, or the way-

These stupid thoughts weren't getting her anywhere! It was only confusing her more! And the more she fought with herself on it, the more she was having doubts of herself. The more she tried to deny it, the more she felt like Jasper was right.

But she didn't want Jasper to be right!

She fought with herself all day about it, going from class to class, not really looking where she was going. She bumped into a few people, and even walked into the wrong classroom. One thing she did notice, though, was Ruby and Sapphire. They had been walking down the hallway, both of them holding hands and wearing the stupid bracelets Ruby had bought. It made Peridot sick to look at them, yet she felt happy for them. She thought it was nice that they cared so much for each other and she wished she could have that same thing with Lapis. She hated how her mind was betraying her and she spun on her heel to get away from them as fast as possible.

Eventually, the final bell rang and Peridot was able to go home. She left quickly wanting to get away from everyone, especially Jasper. She practically stomped all the way there, furious about the situation she was in. She was going to go to Lapis's house right now and prove to everyone, including herself, that she did not have a crush on her! She would find something, anything, to show that her feelings for Lapis were purely plantonic.

She didn't stop at her own home to drop off her backpack, she just went straight to her neighbor's. The two of them had agreed that it was best if the door was kept unlocked for Peridot in case Lapis was ever sleeping, so when she came up to the door she just slipped off her boots and walked in.

She found Lapis sitting in the living room in front of the nearly finished painting of the mermaid. All that needed to be done was the face, which Lapis stared at so intently that she didn't even notice the other's presence.

Peridot couldn't help but stop and stare at Lapis herself, seeing how she wore a grey, loose fitted shirt that dipped very low in the back. It was stained with splotches of paint, along with the pair of white shorts she had. The way she was staring, the way she had her lower lip between her teeth, the soft looking skin of her back, Peridot thought Jasper was right to call her cute.

She turned her head away, wanting these annoying thoughts to stop. Now that she wasn't occupied with the girl in front of her, she noticed the strong smell of smoke in the air. She walked towards the kitchen, sensing it was coming from there.

"Lapis?" She looked back saw her still sitting there staring at the painting. "Hello?"

Lapis jumped and looked around as if she had been in a daze and was just coming back to reality. "What?"

"I think your kitchen is on fire." Peridot said pointing. Lapis quickly got up and ran past her. Peridot followed behind her and saw her lifting a pan off the stove and turning off the burner. She used a towel to fan away the remaining smoke and then inspected what was in the pan.

"Oh no, I think they're burned." Lapis reached into the pan, but coiled back and hissed in pain almost instantly. Peridot went to her quickly and took her hand to see if there was any severe damage.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I just burned myself a little but I'm fine."

"Okay, just run it under some cold water to ease the pain. Next time be more... careful..." Peridot looked up and saw that Lapis had leaned in to look at her hand. Their faces were inches apart and suddenly Peridot was aware of the physical contact they had. She felt her cheeks begin to heat up and she pulled away and stepped back, wanting to put some distance between them.

This was bad. Really bad. She had come here to show to everyone that she didn't have a crush on Lapis and now here she was acting like this. She had only been here for a few minutes and already her heartbeat had quickened considerably. She tried to find a way to rationalize the way she felt but every part of her was screaming that is was love and nothing else.

"I can try cooking again and we could have dinner together?" Lapis offered as she ran some water on her hand.

"N-No." Peridot stammered. She had to get out of here. This was not good, why did Jasper have to do this to her? Why did she have to do this to herself? How was she even suppose to deal with this!? She needed to make up an excuse so she could leave without hurting Lapis's feelings. "I actually came here to tell you that, uh... my mom wants me to do some stuff for her so I... can't stay here long."

"Oh." Lapis dried her hand on a towel and turned to Peridot. "That's okay. You can come over later, ri-"

"No, actually, I can't." Peridot said quickly.

"Oh. Uh, okay..." Lapis looked down and Peridot knew she was disappointed, but she couldn't stay here. Not now. "Well, can I see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure, maybe." Peridot started to back away. "But I really have to go. Bye!"

Without waiting for a response she turned and ran out of the house. She put her boots back on and ran back to her house. She didn't know how to stop her pounding heart and she didn't know how to stop this feeling. She had tried her best, but she wasn't able to prove anything except for one thing.

She was in love with Lapis.

* * *

(A/N: Okay, I tried my best not to sound too cheesy or mess up this chapter in any way, and I think it turned out okay! I'm glad I was able to get this chapter done at a reasonable time, too. Because of the holidays I don't know how much I'll be able to write during the week but I'll do my best. I hope you liked the chapter and thanks for any and all reviews.

Happy holidays~)


	10. Chapter 10

It had been a week since she had discovered her feelings for Lapis. Or maybe it's been two, Peridot couldn't remember. All the days just kind of ran together into one giant blur. She had way too much on her mind to pay attention to anything but what she absolutely had to.

Developing this crush on Lapis was like walking down the street, minding her own business and suddenly being hit by a bus. It was completely unexpected and left Peridot spinning, trying desperately to get a grip of herself. It left her stunned and frustrated, unsure of how to deal with a situation like this. It wasn't some sort of math equation that could be solved by jotting some notes down on paper and punching numbers into a calculator until you got the answer. This was a lot more complicated and required her to give it as much of her attention as possible.

To say that this predicament affected her was an under statement. It completely changed her life. Everywhere she looked, she would see something that would remind her of Lapis. She would catch a glimpse of electric blue in the corner of her eye and would start thinking of Lapis's hair and how much she wanted to curl her fingers through it. She would have to tear her eyes away and force her attention back to whatever she was doing, though it would be a lot more difficult to focus. It made her extremely frustrated and she began avoiding people.

Luckily, her mom wasn't home much so she didn't notice any difference, or if she did, she didn't mention it. Her friends noticed, but they assumed it was Peridot being moody like she sometimes was. Jasper would try talk to her and tell her to stop being a baby, but she would just ignore her or only grunt out a quick response. Jasper would then laugh while Peridot sat there fuming.

Jasper may think this is funny but Peridot was furious. If Jasper hadn't implemented the idea that she liked Lapis into her head, then maybe she wouldn't have realized she was right. She hadn't wanted Jasper to be right, but it turns out she was. Peridot hated when she was right because Jasper was the kind of person to rub it in and make her feel like crap. She avoided Jasper more than anyone else to keep a confrontation like that from happening. Eventually, Jasper noticed that this wasn't just another one of Peridot's tantrums and began to show some concern. This time when Jasper tried to talk to her, she would answer with a scoff of disgust before stuffing her hands into her pockets, turning on her heel and leaving. She didn't have time to deal with Jasper and would rather continue to avoid her until this whole thing blew over. Besides, she didn't buy that Jasper had genuine concern for her. If she did, she would be leaving her alone, not harassing her.

When she was with Lapis, she would try to keep her distance, but at the same time couldn't stay away. She still went over to Lapis's house every day like they had arranged, but would cut it short with excuses. She wanted to be there, she really did, but it was too overwhelming for her. Her heart would begin to pound every time she saw Lapis, she would be mesmerized by those gorgeous aquamarine eyes, unable to look away once they made contact with her own. She loved looking at her and taking note of all her lovely features. She always had to turn her eyes away when Lapis was looking, but she would go right back to staring when she could.

She liked the way Lapis's hands would moved and she wished she could hold them in her own. She had a hard time taking her eyes away from Lapis's lips when she spoke, wishing she could kiss them. When Lapis would say her name she felt chills go down her spine, leaving a pleasant feeling in the pit of her stomach. Lapis noticed these strange changes in her and asked if she was alright. Peridot would stutter and fumble with her words until she was able to choke out that everything was fine but that she needed to go. Lapis would be disappointed and try to get Peridot to stay, but she would insist she had to leave and run back home with all kinds of mixed feelings inside her.

Even if Peridot knew the first thing about flirting and forming a romantic relationship, there was no way Lapis would want to be intimate with her. She wasn't exactly the most charming person in the world, even coming off as rude sometimes. She wasn't trying to be as harsh as she was, but emotions weren't something she was very familiar with and she struggled to portray them properly. She did enjoy teasing and being mean at times, but now was not one of those times. And pushing Lapis away was definitely one of those things that people considered rude.

Personality aside, Peridot knew she wasn't attractive either. There had been a morning after she got out of the shower that she found herself gazing at her own reflection, spotting out all her flaws. She'd wiped the fog from the mirror, bringing her face close and seeing the small patch of acne she had on her forehead. Her hair looked better when it was wet, but she knew that as soon as it dried, it would be a mess again. Her glasses helped her eyesight, but they didn't flatter her face at all. Her eyes traveled further down her body. She admitted that she had decent sized breasts and slightly curvy hips, but it didn't matter when they were hidden under her baggy clothes.

There was no way someone so perfect and beautiful like Lapis would be attracted to someone so unappealing like her. Besides, Lapis was a _girl._ The odds of Lapis returning her feelings were slim, and that thought made Peridot depressed. Jasper said that gender doesn't matter, but it does when it comes to a situation like this. When she would think about it, her chest felt like there was a chunk of lead in it.

She had that feeling now as she dragged her feet along concrete, walking back home from school. She dreaded having to go home and be near Lapis because she knew that it would just be more torture for her. It was a Friday, which meant the weekend was coming and she would be obligated to spend more time there with school out of the way. She tried to think of what excuse she could use today, thinking maybe she should just say she was sick so she wouldn't have to go there at all. Maybe if she stayed away from her, her dumb crush would go away and then things could go back to the way they were. She was pulled from her thoughts when she felt a slight tugging at her shoe.

She stopped walking and looked down to see a little black paw poking out of a bush and batting at her shoelaces. She bent down and saw the small cat she had befriended a few months ago. They met one day when she had forgotten to tie the laces of her boots and he had decided to attack them. He was a bit skittish, running away from her when she tried to pet him, but over time he warmed up to her when he saw she wasn't threatening. She didn't know if he was stray or not because he looked healthy and well fed, but he was always outside. She tried to take him home with her once, but as they got further away from the area he stayed in, he squirmed and scratched her arms until she let him go. He obviously liked where he was so she left him there. However, she still gave him a name and stopped every once in a while to pet him.

"Hey, Pebble." She said running her hand over his shiny black fur. He purred and closed his eyes in delight, arching his back into her hand. She smiled, liking that he provided some sort of comfort for her. "You like me, right?"

He looked up her with a look of annoyance in his emerald eyes, as if her talking had ruined the pleasantness of the moment. His ears twitched back just slightly before he rubbed his head against her knee. Peridot frowned, but continued to pet him.

"Okay, I'm talking to a cat now." she muttered to herself. She heard a car coming and turned around in time to see a familiar black SUV driving fast toward them. She grabbed Pebble and jumped out the way just in time before it pulled up next to them.

"What the hell!?" She shrieked as the window to the driver's side was rolled down.

"What?" Jasper stuck her head out and looked around as if Peridot had been talking to someone other than her. Peridot glared at her and held Pebble against her protectively.

"You almost hit a cat!" She yelled.

"Who cares, cats are lame anyway. Dogs are the real pets you want. Now get in the car, I'm taking you home."

"Why would I go with _you?_ I can walk by myself." The little cat squirmed with discomfort and she set him down, watching as he scurried off into the bushes for cover.

"Just get in, okay?" Peridot stood there, her lips pressed tightly as she contemplated going with her or continue walking. Jasper became impatient and began unbuckling herself, grumbling about how Peridot was so difficult and she was going to drag in her there.

"Okay, fine!" She yelled, raising her hands defensively. She stomped around the car to the passenger side and slammed the door once she was in. She sighed heavily and crossed her arms. She kept her head turned away from Jasper, not liking that she was here. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" Jasper asked incredulously. "I want to know what your problem is! Why haven't you been talking to me?"

"I haven't felt like it." Peridot shrugged. It wasn't a complete lie.

"Why not?" Jasper asked as she shifted the car into drive and pulled away from the curb.

"I just haven't!" She yelled. She bit the inside of her cheek before sighing in defeat. She had been avoiding her for too long and Jasper was bound to find out one way or another. "You were right, okay?"

"Right about what?"

"I..." She grit her teeth together. "I like Lapis. There, I said it. Just take me home like you said."

There was silence between them and she wasn't sure if it was because Jasper was stunned by her revelation or if she was actually being nice for once. The silence was a bit nerve wracking to her and she was grateful when Jasper finally spoke up.

"Does she know?"

"I haven't told her." Peridot said quietly. "I don't want to tell her."

"You should tell her." Jasper said. "It'll be good for you. Just to get it off your chest, you know?"

"Its not that easy. She's a girl, I cant-"

"Peridot, stop." Jasper's voice was sharp and firm. Peridot could tell she was serious and swallowed back the words that wanted to escape her throat. "I know it may be hard, but you need to tell her. I've seen the way you've been acting and its not pretty. Sure, she's a girl and you might be rejected, but at least you'll be being honest with her. Lapis is really cool, if she ends up not liking you, she'll be nice about it. You have to let her know."

"Since when did you become a therapist?"

"Pearl gave me some advice." Jasper replied with a smirk. "I don't know what the fuck I said but I hope it helps."

Peridot let out a short, thin laugh. She appreciated that Jasper was trying to help instead of screwing with her head. "You think so?"

"It better or I'm turning this car around to go punch Pearl in her lying face."

She chuckled, glad to have a friend like Jasper. Despite how rough and aggressive she might be, she did care a little bit. And if it wasn't for her being so forceful, they wouldn't be having this conversation. Peridot relaxed and gave Jasper a slight smile.

"I'll try. But if anything bad happens I'm blaming you!"

"That's fair." Jasper said. The car suddenly turned sharply into Peridot's driveway and she yelped, gripping the dashboard for support. The car then stopped and Jasper unlocked the doors. "Now get the hell outta my car."

Peridot took a second to regain her composure. "Remind me never to get in a car with you again." She then opened the door and climbed out, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"Hey!" Jasper called to her and she turned around. "I told you so."

With that she backed out of the driveway and sped off down the road. Peridot just rolled her eyes before tossing her backpack on her porch and making her way to Lapis's house. Jasper was right again. It was better to just get this out of the way so she could stop worrying about it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, maybe Lapis would understand.

She paused at the door, her hands suddenly feeling sweaty and her stomach doing flip-flops. This definitely wasn't going to be easy and she wondered if she could do this. Lapis was so unpredictable, it was hard to tell how she would react. One thing she did know, Lapis was her friend and would most likely want to stay her friend. As long as she explained to her that this was just a big mistake and she would deal with it accordingly, everything should be fine.

And a small part of her hoped that maybe, just maybe, Lapis would feel the same way.

She sucked in a breath and stepped inside, looking around for any sign of Lapis. It was quiet so she assumed she must be asleep. She quietly went to Lapis's bedroom, opening the door just wide enough for her to poke her head through. She opened it wider and stepped inside when she saw no one there.

If Lapis wasn't here then where was she? Peridot walked to the bed and saw an outfit laid out expecting someone's return. She casually observed the shirt, seeing that it was brand new with the tag still on it. It had a designer name that she recognized from one of her mom's fashion magazines. Okay, so she was able to identify clothing, but where was Lapis?

That question was answered when Lapis came into the room. She had a towel on her head and wore nothing but a deep blue bikini that revealed a lot of her skin, which was shiny with moisture. Lapis finished drying her hair with the towel and removed it, gasping when she saw Peridot and wrapping the towel around her body quickly. Peridot was glad she did this because she already felt heat rising to her cheeks as they turned crimson.

"Peridot! You're here early."

"Yeah! I, um... I got a ride from Jasper..." Peridot stammered. She couldn't look away from her. Her hair looked more vibrant when it was wet and was messy from her trying to dry it. The slightly tanned skin of her shoulders glistened with small drops of water scattered over them.

"I was just out swimming." Lapis explained. "We have an above ground pool that I bring out on warm days like these."

"O-Oh." Was all the she could muster. She quickly turned herself around, not wanting to openly stare. Why did she have to show up at a time like this, how was she suppose to concentrate now? Look for something to use a distraction, something, ANYTHING! "Are these new?" She asked, pointing to the clothes on her bed.

"Uh, yeah." Lapis moves behind her. "My dad got them yesterday aft-ACHOO!"

Lapis sneezed and stumbled forward onto the bed rather ungracefully. Peridot lunged forward to help her, but it only made Lapis sneeze more.

"Were you near any animals today?" Lapis asked, sitting up on the bed and holding her wrist to her nose.

"Yeah, a cat, b-but-"

"I'm allergic to cats." Lapis says. Peridot pulls her hands away and takes a step back, cursing herself for not knowing that. Stupid Jasper, if she hadnt tried to run over Pebble then she wouldnt have grabbed him and rubbed him all over her sweater. In the process of falling, Lapis had lost her grip of the towel and it was now laying loosely on her legs. She didnt want to go back staring but before she could turn away again, her eyes landed on a few light purple splotches that lined Lapis's stomach.

"Lapis, are those-?" Before she could finish her sentence, Lapis pulled the towel back to her body, her eyes wide. "Oh my god! When did this happen?"

"Its nothing, forget you saw it-"

"No!" Peridot went toward her and tore the towel away. Looking closer, she could see more bruises on her chest, neck and a few on her arms. "What happened!?"

Lapis didn't say anything, only sitting there with her head down. "Answer me!" She cringed at Peridot's harsh tone and she realized that maybe it wasn't the best idea to yell at her. But she couldn't control herself, Lapis had tried to keep this a secret from her _again._

"It was stupid." Lapis finally says, shaking her head. "Dad just gets frustrated sometimes, he doesn't mean to do it, it just sort of happens! But I'm fine, really, they don't even hurt anymore-"

"People don't beat other people when they're just frustrated! And what is this!?" She gestures towards the clothes. "I've seen this brand before, its expensive. Does he come home and beat you and then give you fancy things to buy your love back!?"

"That's not-"

"No!" She says firmly. "This is not okay! You said you would tell me, but you didn't. Why didn't you tell me, Lapis, I can help you! You need to get out of here, this isn't safe for you!"

"You don't fucking understand!" Lapis shouts at her. Peridot freezes and feels the blood drain from her face. This is the first time she's ever heard her cuss. "I dont want your help! He's all I have left of my family! I lost my mom before I could even know her, we don't have any other family that we know of, and I can't even remember my own childhood! I put up with him because he's literally all I have left! I thought maybe you could be a friend to me but if you can't understand then maybe you should just go!"

Peridot was too stunned to say anything. She wanted to say something but she didn't know what to say. Lapis was furious and the steel cold look in her eyes made her shiver. She needed to help her, to get her away from here so she wouldn't suffer anymore. But Lapis wasn't able to see what was best for her. How was she suppose to help someone that didn't want her help? What was she suppose to do? Why was Lapis making this so hard? She could see tears beginning to form in the corners of Lapis's eyes. Her presence was obviously upsetting her, so she clenched her teeth and took a deep breath.

"Fine." That's all she said before turning and storming out of the house, leaving Lapis there on her own. She didn't want to leave her, but there was nothing she could do. She had gone over there to try to fix a mess she had created, but she had only created a bigger, more serious one.

* * *

(A/N: Okay this chapter was really long. I thought about breaking it up into two chapters but it didn't seem right, so its hella long. I kinda felt like I put too much in but also not enough? I dunno, maybe I'm over thinking it. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed reading this! And thanks for the reviews, they mean a lot. The next chapter will be up probably next week so you won't have to wait long I promise.)


	11. Chapter 11

Peridot gingerly lifted her cup of coffee to her lips, taking a quick sip and letting the steam warm her cheeks and nose. She set the cup back down, restlessly drumming her fingers on her desk and flipping through apps on her phone.

She hadn't drank coffee like this in years, not since her dad moved away. He used to sneak her a few sips from his cup every morning when her mom wasn't looking when she was younger, and when she was older he taught her how to make it. It became a tradition of their's to drink coffee together in the mornings and watch cartoons before they went their separate ways to work and school. It was like that until she was twelve, but her parents began to grow further and further apart, too occupied with their jobs until they finally got a divorce. Her dad moved away to pursue his career, insisting that it was better if she stayed here in her home town so she wouldn't have to turn around her whole life style. With some reluctance, she agreed, but drinking coffee without him felt wrong, so she rarely ever had it.

Right now, she felt like she could use the extra boost it gave her, as well as the warmth and comfort. She had stayed up all night because of Lapis again. She hated that she had screamed and stomped away from the girl she loved who desperately needed her help, but Lapis was being so... _infuriating!_ She didn't want Peridot's help at all, but she needed it!

She thought about it all night, pacing her bedroom as she replayed the scene in her head. What happened to Lapis's family? What did she mean when she said she couldn't remember her own childhood? Why couldn't she see that she didn't belong there? What could she do to get her out of there?

She needed to think this out clearly so she could devise a plan to convince Lapis to leave without going back on her promise and telling someone. True, she already had broke her promise by telling Jasper, but that was different. Lapis clearly didn't know what was best for her but at the same time she didn't want to ruin their friendship. Although, she possibly had already ruined it.

Lapis had been so upset with her yesterday. It was the first time Lapis had yelled like that, her voice full of anger, anger that was directed at _her._ It felt awful, like someone had shot her through the chest, leaving a gaping hole that burned. She wanted to sleep and forget about everything that's happened. She would much rather crawl under her blankets and ignore all the feelings she had regarding Lapis. She wanted to be mad at her and leave her to fend for herself since she was so hellbent on not accepting help. But she cared too deeply to just turn away and as a result she kept herself awake, anxiously trying to come up with a solution.

She groaned when her phone vibrated in her hand. It had been going off all morning with text messages from Jasper. She had been ignoring them so far because she knew what Jasper wanted and she didn't know how to tell her what happened. This was probably the hundredth text she had sent and there were more coming, so she tapped her messaging app and read the texts.

 _Jasper: yo did you do it_

 _Jasper: does she know how gay you are_

 _Jasper: how did she take it_

 _Jasper: did you guys start making ou t_

 _Jasper: out*_

 _Jasper: or did something bad happen_

 _Jasper: are you mad at me_

 _Jasper: am i in trouble_

 _Jasper: bro_

 _Jasper: why arent you answering me_

 _Jasper: answer meeeeee_

 _Jasper: you used to call me on my cellphone_

 _Jasper: late night when you need my love_

 _Jasper: call me on my cellphone_

She grimaced at those last few messages and decided she should respond before Jasper sent her more lyrics.

 _Peridot: Oh my god stop!_

 _Jasper: finally where have you been_

 _Peridot: Busy_

 _Jasper: well come on dont leave me hanging what happened yesterday_

Peridot's thumbs hovered over the keyboard for a moment. What should she tell her? Should she sugar coat it and make it seem like her and Lapis got into a little argument or should she be honest? Jasper wasn't exactly the best tempered person in the world, who knows how she would react to the truth. Her fingers flew over the keys and sent it, hopeful that keeping it simple wouldn't draw any attention.

 _Peridot: We kind of got into a fight_

 _Jasper: wait really_

 _Jasper: i thought for sure she'd be cool about it_

 _Peridot: It was about something completely unrelated. I haven't had the chance to tell her about 'how gay I am'_

 _Jasper: well you are_

 _Jasper: dont pretend like youre not_

 _Peridot: Fuck you_

 _Jasper: whoa are you coming onto me now?_

 _Jasper: i thought you had the hots for lapis whats with the sudden change of heart_

 _Jasper: im truly flattered_

 _Peridot: Please, you have the intelligence of a dog. Do you remember what they taught you in first grade about grammer? Why do I even talk to you?_

 _Jasper: because deep down in the dark chasm you call your heart you love me_

 _Jasper: but i have to go now. training and whatnot ttyl_

 _Jasper: hope everything goes well_

She sighed, relieved that Jasper hadn't pushed for imformation. She tossed her phone on her desk and it landed with a loud clatter. She pushed her glasses up and rubbed her eyes, exhausted. At least she got one problem out of the way and made her life a little easier.

* * *

"Do you want chopsticks or a fork?"

"Chopsticks, obviously." Peridot said, grabbing the item from her mother's extended hand. She flipped through channels on TV trying to find something decent to watch and balanced a box of chow mein on her lap so it didn't spill all over her sweat pants. Her mom settled herself on the other end of the couch, helping Peridot choose something to watch.

Peridot was glad when her mom showed up with Chinese food. The weeks for her have been rough and these last couple of days were the worst. She could use a break to just sit down, eat some comfort food and watch some mind numbing television. Although there was hardly anything on that looked interesting and in the end they chose an old horror movie with terrible CGI. They ended up talking to fill in all the boring parts, which was pretty much the whole thing.

"Your school called today." Her mom began. "They said you hacked their WiFi again."

"If they don't want anyone using it then maybe they should secure it better." Peridot said with a shrug.

"Well, if you're going to do it, at least do it right and don't get caught." She said smirking.

Peridot just grumbled and did her best to hide the grin that was forming on her lips. She reached for a spring roll, silently wondering why the main character decided to hide in the closet when it was clear he was going to get caught. People in movies were so stupid.

"So, anything else new?" Her mom asked.

"New how?"

"With your life, your friends, things like that."

"Not really." Peridot frowned. "My friends are the same. Jasper's a jerk, Amethyst is gross, and Pearl's annoying. Nothing new there."

"What about the other girl? The one that lives next door, what was her name again? Lacy?"

"Lapis..." She corrected. Of course, just as she was beginning to feel better someone would remind her of Lapis.

"You've been hanging out with her a lot lately. What do you guys do together?"

"Nothing really..." Her mom gave her a suspicious look and she quickly shook her head. "I mean, nothing _bad,_ we um... I... S-She's teaching me how to paint."

Her mom raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I didn't know you liked painting."

"Neither did I." Peridot muttered quietly. At least that was a good enough answer for her mom not question any further. They were silent for a minute, both of them eating and focusing their attention back to the TV.

"I didn't know Paul had daughter." Her mom suddenly said.

"Who?" Peridot asked, twisting her mouth and trying to remember the names of the characters in the movie. She could've sworn the main character's name was Dennis and she hadn't heard anything about him having a daughter.

"Paul, you know, our neighbor?"

"Oh..." She furrowed her brow and moved her noddles around with her chopsticks. She hadn't realized her mom was talking about _that._ Her head shot up. "Wait, you know him?"

"Yeah, his house is kind of right next to ours." Her mom lifted her fork as if it was obvious. "He never said anything about having a kid, though. She's not weird is she?"

"No... N-No, Lapis is fine, but what do you know about him?" Peridot sat forward, abandoning her food on the floor next to her. She never knew her mom knew Lapis's dad! Why hadn't she said anything before?

"Well, he..." Her mom took a bite of food and then washed it down with a drink. She began to fidget, growing impatient with her mom who was taking her dear sweet time to swallow. "He owns a towing company, which is a pretty full job, so I guess it makes sense that you don't know him. He has to deal with totaled cars and is always getting cuts or burns, so I see him a lot at work. He's a nice guy, really friendly. He used to live in another state but he moved here, like, ten years ago."

"Uh-huh..." This is the most she's ever heard about Lapis's dad. She wished her mom had mentioned this to her earlier! Maybe she could understand Lapis better with this information. She would never believe that her dad was 'a nice guy', though. She knew better than that. "Do you know why they moved?"

Her mom shook her head. "Something about wanting a fresh start. I know he lost his wife a while back, and now that I know he has a daughter, too, it makes a lot more sense."

"Yeah..." It still didn't make sense to Peridot, though. Sure, it made sense that he was gone so often with his job. But why had he never mentioned Lapis to anyone? Why did he want a fresh start? Something Lapis had said kept playing over in her head and she wanted to know what it meant. "What... What would cause someone to forget their past?"

"You mean memory loss?" Peridot nodded. "Well, multiple reasons. Head injuries, strokes, certain medications, stress... And I'm no psychologist, but I've had patients who couldn't remember events in their lives because they were so traumatic their brain blocked it out. But why are you asking me this now? Is there something I should know?"

Peridot tensed and turned her attention back to the TV, pretending like there was something interesting happening there. She couldn't tell her mom the really reason, she needed to cover it with something believable. "N-No! Its just that- I was... Y-You know, just... Uh-"

Suddenly there was ringing. Her mom set aside her food to get up and dig through her purse until she found her phone and answered it.

"Hello? ...Yes...Yes of course, I'll be right there." She hung up and stuffed it back into her silver bag. "That was work. There was an emergency and they need my there. I'm sorry I have to go, but I'll be back, okay? Can you put the leftovers away for me?"

"Y-Yeah, sure..." Peridot said as she watched her mom run a brush through her short blonde hair. She wanted her to leave _fast_ so she could go see Lapis as soon as possible. She wanted to talk to her, to find out what had happened. It was possible that Lapis had a head injury that caused her to forget her younger self, but knowing her life now, it seemed more likely that it was a traumatic event. If she could just find out a few things about Lapis's past, then maybe she would know how to help her.

Her mom finished her preparations, kissed the top of Peridot's head and went out the door. Peridot scooted across the couch to look out the window as her mom backed out of the driveway. She strained her neck to watch until the headlights were out of sight and then jumped up and ran to her room. She check her phone for the time, seeing that it was pretty late. Lapis's dad would be home soon, but she had enough time to talk to her for just a few minutes. That was all she needed. She threw her boots on, not bothering to tie them, and ran out the door to the other house. She got up the stairs and tried to slip off her boot with her other foot. Of course, it got stuck and she had to struggle.

"StupidfuckinGSH **OE-!"** She lost her balance and fell against the door. She sat down and tugged off her boots, throwing them off the porch in frustration. She hadn't tied them so they would be easier to take off but, no, everything had to be difficult! She reached up and grabbed the doorknob, using it to help pull herself up and then opened it, practically falling in. She really needed to work on her entrances.

She pushed her hair out of her face, which had been tossled from her struggling, and found the lights on inside. She assumed that Lapis was awake, probably making dinner. As she got closer to the dining room, she saw the table was set. She rounded the corner to the kitchen, feeling a little regretful that she had already eaten becau-

 _WHACK!_

Something suddenly hit her in the face. Hard. She stumbled to the ground, her glasses falling off and her hands flying to her face. She rolled onto her side and curled in on herself, an agonizing pain creeping its way from her right temple throughout her skull. She cried out, a few curse words mixed in with her howls of pain.

"Oh my god, Peridot!" Lapis was suddenly at her side, pulling her into a sitting position. She blinked and looked around the room. It was spinning and she swore she could see stars. She moaned and rubbed her eyes, already feeling a headache forming beneath them.

"Shit, that _really hurt!"_ She hissed, anger beginning to swell inside her.

"I am so sorry!" Lapis said. "I heard banging outside and I thought a murderer or something was trying to get in! I didn't know it was you, I didn't think you would be coming over!"

"Why didn't you _look!?"_ She blinked again, the spinning beginning to slow down and her senses starting to come back. "What the hell did you hit me with anyway, a frying pan!?"

"Cookie sheet..." Lapis said with a guilty tone.

Peridot sniffled and wiped her nose with her hand. She didn't have her glasses so she couldn't see well, but her hand didn't look right. She brought it closer and squinted her eyes, seeing there was blood on it.

"Fuck, I have a bloody nose." She said tilting her head back.

"O-Okay, um, lets get you up." Lapis said standing up and helping Peridot to her feet. She placed her hand gently on Peridot's back, guiding to her room and to her bed. Peridot did her best to keep her head up and not get any blood on on the carpet. She sat down on Lapis's bed and let out a deep breath. This was turning out to be lovely evening.

"Wait, right here." Lapis left the room and came back a few seconds later. "Here, use these." She took Peridot's hand and placed some tissues in it. Peridot used them to pinch her nose and stop the bleeding. Lapis sat next to her with something in her hand. "I'm sorry, your glasses broke when I hit you."

"Great." Peridot said, slapping her leg. "How badly?"

"Pretty bad." Lapis held them up for her to see. She had no idea how but Lapis had managed to break the bridge in half and one of the frames in a single hit. The lense of the broken frame was falling out, unable to be held in. She didn't know if she would be able to fix them and scowled, not liking the idea of being temporarily blind.

"I'm really sorry." Lapis said again.

"Its fine. You're lucky I have a spare at home." Peridot pulled the tissue away but reapplied it when she felt more blood trickle out.

"I didn't know you were coming. I thought you were mad and didn't want to see me." Lapis said softly.

"Guess I just can't stay away." Peridot laughed bitterly, because she knew it was true. Here she was sitting with a nose bleed in pain over some girl. She really has lost it. She hoped that maybe the hit to her head had knocked some sense back into her.

"If you weren't mad at me before, you probably are now." Lapis chuckled.

Finally, the bleeding stopped and she was able to pull the tissue away for good. She tossed it into a nearby wastebasket and sighed. "I was never mad at you. I'm kinda pissed I got hit in the face with a cookie sheet, but I'll get over it. I just want to make sure you're okay. Its not safe for you here!"

Lapis kept her head down and nodded slowly. "I know. I know it isn't safe, but this is all I've ever known! I don't know if I can just... Leave!"

"Will you at least think about it?" Peridot asked. "You need to realize that you _have_ to leave. I don't care if your dad 'needs' you, I don't fucking care about him! I care about you and I want you to be happy!"

They were quiet, Peridot's words hanging in the air. Peridot began to squirm, not liking the tension and not knowing if she had said the right thing. Lapis nodded her head and gave her a weak smile.

"I'll think about it."

Peridot let out a breath has hadn't known she was holding. She felt like she had just overcome some great challenge that took all of her courage. She was making progress! If she kept this up, whatever she was doing, maybe she could get Lapis out of here for good! She was so happy, she grinned and extended her arms to Lapis. Lapis came closer and wrapped her arms around her in a warm hug.

It was the first time Peridot had ever initiated a hug with her before. Lapis's arms were around her shoulders holding onto her tightly, as if Peridot would disappear if she let go. Peridot closed her eyes, wanting to savour it as long as possible, because she knew soon it would end. Lapis pulled back slowly, letting her hands fall to Peridot's arms.

"I'm doing it for you." Lapis said staring into her eyes. Peridot could feel a light blush crawl into her cheeks when she realized how close she was. She wanted to turn away, to get up and away from her fast so she could calm her pounding heart, but she couldn't. She couldn't stop staring into the beautiful eyes before her. They were so close that even without her glasses she could see all the little details in Lapis's face. She couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't feel anything but Lapis's hands burning on her arms.

She swallowed and managed to choke out weakly, "O-Oh?"

All Lapis did was nod and then started inching her way forward. Peridot held her breath, she didn't know what to do. They were getting closer, and closer until after what seemed like an eternity, she could feel Lapis's lips on her's. Her body tense for a split second before she completely melted. Lapis's lips were so soft and so perfect. Her whole body felt warm and butterflies were flapping their wings restlessly in her stomach and she kissed her back.

Did her head hurt? She couldn't remember. She forgot where she was, only knowing that she was in Lapis's arms with their lips pressed together lightly. She didn't even realize that Lapis had pulled away, her mind too fuzzy to comprehend anything. She blinked when she no longer felt the warmth on her lips and saw Lapis staring at her, her face completely flushed.

"I-I'm sorry, I didnt- I j-just-"

She was cut off when the front door was suddenly opened and closed. The two of them tensed, both wide eyed and straining their ears to be sure they heard the sound correctly.

"Lapis?" A deep voice called out from the living room.

"Oh no." Lapis whispered. She jumped up and pulled Peridot up with her. Although she was pretty sure she knew the answer, she asked Lapis what was going on, hoping maybe she would get a different answer. "Dad's home. You have to leave!"

"W-What?" Peridot asked, still not fully comprehending.

Lapis looked around the room frantically before moving across the room to her window. "Maybe you can leave this way."

Peridot took a few uncertain steps forward, squinting her eyes trying desperately to see her surroundings. "I can't see! I don't have my glasses!"

"Damn it!" She heard Lapis say under her breath. She mentally cursed herself for having poor eyesight. It was unfair that she had to rely on a piece of plastic and glass to use one of her vital senses. She regretted coming her so late and getting her glasses broken! She heard footsteps coming closer and she began to panic. Everything was too blurry for her to see, how could she make it all the way out a window and across two yards blind!?

"What should I do!?" She whisper-yelled.

"Uh..." Lapis suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her to a door. She was gently shoved in and fell against some garments on hangers. She realized she was in Lapis's closet. "Stay in here until I can do something, okay?"

"O-Okay." Peridot said and the door was closed, leaving her in the dark. She listened as Lapis's soft footsteps got further away and another door was opened.

"Hi, dad." She heard her say. She pressed her ear against the door to listen more closely.

"What are you doing in here? Aren't you making dinner?" That must be Paul, Peridot thought to herself.

"I-I was! I mean, its done. But I spilled some water on me and had to change my shirt." She laughed nervously.

"Let's eat, then."

"Wait, i need to do somethin-"

"Lapis, I've had a long day. I don't need your attitude right now. Just do as I say."

"Y-Yes, sir."

She heard Lapis and her dad leave and the door was closed behind them. Everything was silent except for Peridot's heart beating loudly in her ears. Her head was spinning and she couldnt tell if it was from the blow she recieved, the kiss, or fear. She slowly sild down and rested her head against the door.

This was truly turning out to be a lovely evening.

* * *

(A/N: I know I said I would post this next week, but then I remembered that the Steven Bomb is next week and everyone, including me, is going to be focused on that. Plus, isn't it nice to start a new year with some heart tearing Lapidot? Once again I have stopped at a very suspenseful part, muahaha. I also realized I hadn't mentioned much about Peridot's past so I tried to slyly slip that in there. /shot Anyway, I hope everyone liked this and thanks for all the follows, favs, and reviews!"


	12. Chapter 12

Everything was dark. Peridot had no idea how long she had been in this closet. Lapis said she would come back as soon as she could, but it felt like she had been gone forever! Being stuck in a closet wasn't exactly comfortable. Especially when she was stuck in here because she was trying to hide from a maniac.

Peridot grabbed a fist full of her hair and tugged at it. Why did she ever come here so late? She knew that Lapis's dad would come home and she came over anyway! Now she was trapped in this stupid closet because of her negligence! Not to mention she was hit in the face with a metal baking sheet (which still hurt, by the way!), got a bloody nose, and her glasses were broken! _Was it really worth it, Peridot?_ she thought to herself, _was it really?_

Suddenly there was a loud bang from somewhere within the house. She perked up and strained her ears to hear what was going on. She could faintly hear some muffled yelling but she couldn't make out the words. She stood up and felt around for the wall closest to the sound before pressing her ear to it. The yelling had stopped and there was stomping, along with a door slamming. It was silent for a moment and then she heard the door to Lapis's room open. Was the yelling out there because Paul had found out about her and was coming to get her? She heard footsteps coming closer and she scrambled backwards in a panic, trying to find somewhere she could hide. She ended up getting tangled in some clothes and froze when the closet door was opened.

"What are you doing with my shirt?" Lapis asked.

"Nothing!" Peridot threw the fabric off her arm and stood up straight. She was relieved to see that it was only Lapis, though she couldn't see her very well. "I heard yelling, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, its fine."

"Are you sure? I swear to god, if your dad did anything to you I will go out there right now and-"

"Peridot, shh!" Lapis put her hands up to indicate for her to be quiet and stepped closer so she could whisper. "He slammed his hand on the table and yelled but that's it, I swear!"

Peridot folded her arms and frowned. "You better be telling the truth."

"I am! Look, just-" she turned towards the door and back to Peridot. "We need to get you out of here. You said you have another pair of glasses, if you tell me where they are I can go get them."

"Wait, you're going to leave with your dad here?" Peridot's eyes widened and she unfolded her arms. "What if he comes looking for you? What if he notices you're gone and- and-"

"Ugh, that's why I need to hurry!" Lapis said, her voice full of exasperation. "My dad just went to take a shower but his showers usually last 5-10 minutes so I don't have a lot of time. Besides, I got you into this so I should be the one to get you out. I can go get your glasses for you and then you can leave, okay?"

Peridot could tell that Lapis was upset and wanted to get her out of here. Sure, she was upset too, and wanted to leave more than anything, but she was useless when she was blind. If she was going to get out of here safely, then Lapis was going to have to do something dangerous. She twisted her mouth and sighed.

"Fine, I'll tell you." She began. "The door to my house should be unlocked, so you won't have a problem with that. Go down the hall to the door directly at the end, that's my room. There's a desk in there and my glasses are in the second drawer to the bottom on the left hand side. The case they're in is bright orange so they shouldn't be hard to find. Got it?"

"Yeah, I think so." Lapis repeated it back to her and she nodded. "Okay! I'll be right back, stay here in the closet and don't make any noise."

"That's what I've been doing, Lazuli." Peridot groaned. She grabbed the handle of the door, pulling it shut and leaving her in the dark again. She huffed and leaned against the wall. At least she would be getting out of here soon.

She listened intently as she heard Lapis move to her window and open it. She heard her climb out and land on the ground outside, and then things were silent aside from the faint sound of water, which she assumed was the shower. She fiddled with the hem of her shirt nervously and hoped that Lapis wouldn't have any trouble with this.

A few minutes later she heard Lapis grunting as she climbed back through the window. The door was opened again and Lapis was standing there holding her glasses with a huge grin on her face.

"Found 'em." She said proudly.

"Thanks!" Peridot exclaimed, taking the glasses and settling them on her nose. She stepped out of the closet and smiled, glad that she could finally see.

"I'm sorry," Lapis said behind her. "I was going to get your boots for you but I didn't see them on the porch."

"I threw them somewhere on the ground, I'll just find them myself." She went to the window and stuck her head out, trying to gauge how far it would be to jump down, which was roughly six to seven feet. She brought her head back in and turned to Lapis. "How did you climb in and out of here so fast?"

"It was easy. I can help you if you want." Lapis said and stepped closer.

"No, I'll do it myself!" Peridot put her hand up to stop Lapis and lifted her foot to the ledge. She used the wall to pull herself up until she was able to sit on the ledge, her legs dangling outside.

"Peridot..." Lapis said.

Peridot looked over her shoulder and saw Lapis's soft eyes on her. She had a slight smile on her lips but she had a pained expression. Peridot felt a pang in her chest; Lapis seemed to have that expression a lot. "Yes?"

"I'll see you later." Lapis said, though it sounded more like a question than a statement. She was silent for a moment and Lapis stepped toward her, lifting her hand to Peridot's, her finger tips just barely grazing her knuckles. It was a simple and gentle gesture but it sent shocks of electricity through her and she pulled away sharply. Peridot pulled back so quickly that she lost her balance and began to fall. She yelped and pair of strong arms were around her chest in seconds, keeping her from falling out.

"Are you okay?" Lapis asked frantically. Peridot's heart, which was already racing from almost falling out a window, sped up even more when she felt the other girl's warm breath against her ear. Her cheeks heat up and she began to squirm.

"I-I'm fine!" She said with a scowl. "Just let me go! Your dad could come out any minute!"

Lapis obeyed and let her fall to the ground below. She stumbled a bit and was still embarrassed out of her mind, but was otherwise fine. She straightened out her shirt and looked back up at Lapis who was staring at her expectantly. She remembered that she never actually responded to Lapis and she knew how insecure she was about that.

"See you later." She said nervously looking away. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Lapis smiling at her.

"Bye, Peri." Lapis waved, then closed the window and left her standing there blushing heavily. She tried to cover the smile forming on her lips with her hand, though there was no one around to hide it from but herself. She began towards the front of the house, wanting to just grab her shoes and get away from here so she could stop thinking about how Lapis just used her nickname.

There wasn't much light to see with, but she didn't think it would be too difficult finding them, especially with their neon green laces. She bent down and looked in the area she could've sworn she threw them in but they weren't there. Had she really thrown them that far? She looked all along the ground near the porch but she didn't see them. She even looked in the bushes, but nope, no boots. She threw her hands up and decided to just go home without them. Maybe she would find them in the morning. She swore if a raccoon ran off with them or something, she would hunt it down herself and kick its ass.

She went back to her house, sulking the whole time. As soon as she closed the door behind her, she was suddenly hit with a strong wave of fatigue. Her legs felt like stone and her eyelids felt like they needed to be taped up just to stay open. She made her way to the couch and collapsed onto it. She hadn't realized how tired she was, though it made sense since she hadn't slept the night before and just went through a lot. She stared blankly at the TV that was still on and now showing some sort of commercial for soap and her leftover Chinese that was now cold. So much for relaxing tonight. She took off her glasses and set them on the coffee table before rolling over and closing her eyes.

* * *

"...-ridot?"

She could faintly hear someone talking, but she hoped it was just her imagination. She groaned and buried her face into the cushion, groping her torso and hip for a blanket she could pull over her head.

"Peridot!"

She recognized the voice as her mom's and she rolled onto her back. "What!?"

"Why are you sleeping out here? And I thought I asked you to put the leftovers away, why are they still out?"

Peridot ground her eyes with the heels of her palms and grabbed her glasses to look around. The leftovers were indeed still out and she was laying on the couch. Her mom hovered over, her clothes wrinkled and dark circles under her light hazel eyes. Peridot was used to seeing her mom like that but for a moment she was just as confused as she was. Then memories of the night before started flooding back to her and she shot up.

"I-I'm sorry. I fell asleep after you left."

"I can see that." Her mom said picking up one of the boxes. She twisted her face in disgust and held it away from her. "It's no good anymore. I'll just have to throw it out."

"I didn't mean to forget." Peridot said. She really hadn't, it's just that with all that went on last night, it completely slipped her mind. Even if she had remembered, she didn't think she would've had the energy to do anything.

"Try to remember next time." Her mom gave her a hard look and bent down to pick up all the food and carry it to the kitchen. She came back a few moments later and sighed. "I'm going to bed, I had a long night. Don't make too much noise, okay? I love you."

"Same." Peridot said, and flopped back down when her mom left. Her mom probably thought she had only responded to the "I love you" part, but she was actually agreeing that both of them had a long night.

She stared at the ceiling and played the events of last night through her head. She remembered going to Lapis's house and getting hit in the face because she had been mistaken for an intruder. She brought her hand to the side of her forehead and felt around until her fingers found a slight bump under the skin that hurt to the touch. She winced and pulled her hand away. She remembered the bloody nose, the broken glasses, not being able to see, having to hide in the closet, being scared out of her mind, and almost falling out a window.

She also remembered how Lapis said she would think about leaving. That was the whole reason she had gone over there. To convince Lapis to get away from her dad. And it worked! She said she would think about it and maybe with more coaxing she would leave for good! Peridot had been so happy she had actually hugged Lapis! And then they...

Peridot swallowed and her lips trembled. The memory of Lapis's hands on her body burned, yet she felt cold at the same time. The ghost of Lapis's lips against her own sent chills down her spine and she drummed her fingers on her chest to help calm herself down. This experience was new to her, but she couldn't tell if it was good or bad. On one hand, she had kissed Lapis, on another hand _she had kissed Lapis._

Her chest suddenly felt tight and the room was spinning. What did that kiss mean? Was it a little mistake they made or did it mean something? It had happened so fast she wasn't even sure it was real. But if it wasn't real, why did she feel so strongly about it? Did Lapis feel the same way?

She moaned and grabbed a pillow to smother her bright red face. The worst part was that she would have to face her again. Eventually her and Lapis would have to talk about it, but right now she just wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. She couldn't exactly do that, but she could do the next best thing and sleep. She could sleep for a bit longer and once she was fully rested _then_ she would deal with the train wreck that is her life. She didn't know what time it was and she didn't care, but she thought it might be a good idea to set an alarm just in case she slept too late and messed up her sleep schedule.

She ran her hand along the cushions of the couch but she didn't feel her phone. She huffed and arched her back to feel under her, but it wasn't there either. She turned and checked the floor and coffee table but still nothing. She didn't have the patience to deal with this now! She pushed herself up, marched to her mom's purse and fished out her mom's phone. She dialed her number and held it away from her ear so she could listen for her upbeat electronic ringtone, but she never heard it. Did she put her phone on silent again? She growled and went to her room to check there, but came up with nothing. She called herself again and ran to the living room, pulling the cushions off the couch. It _had_ to be somewhere, it didn't just get up and leave! Why did the world have to work against her? First her boots, and now this! How many raccoons were around here!?

She was interrupted from her frantic searching when she heard a knock at the door. It was too soft to be Jasper (thank god), but it still annoyed her. She climbed over her pile of cushions, haphazardly threw her mom's phone back into her purse and went to open the door. She felt the blood drain from her face when she saw Lapis standing there with her phone in her hand.

"Hi." Lapis held up the small device. "You must've left this at my house. It started ringing and I didn't know how too turn it off. I thought I should bring over."

Crap, it must've fallen out of her pocket when she was wrestling with Lapis's clothes like an idiot!

"U-Uh... Thanks." Peridot gingerly took her phone, mindful not to touch Lapis's hand, and stuffed into the pocket of her grey sweatpants. Why did she have to show up now? She wasn't ready to face her yet! She shifted from foot to foot and slowly started shutting the door. "So, uh, bye!"

"Wait!" Lapis put her arm out to hold the door open. "I need to talk to you."

"C-Can it wait until later? My mom is sleeping right now." Peridot said. She mentally slapped herself for giving such a poor excuse.

"Come out here." Lapis motioned for her to join her on the porch. When Peridot hesitated she added, "It's important."

Peridot pressed her lips into a thin line before cautiously stepping out, closing the door quietly behind her. She folded her arms and kept her eyes trained on the wooden boards beneath her feet. She scowled, annoyed that she had to be here, but a small part of her was curious about what Lapis had to say.

"Do you love me?"

Peridot's head shot up. She was surprised, not only by the question but at how blunt she had asked it. "What-"

"Wait, no, that's not what I meant to say!" Lapis squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, pressing her fist to her forehead. "I mean, t-that is what I meant to say! But not like that!"

Peridot could only stare as Lapis stammered and fumbled with her words. She had seen her act strange before, but not like this. Eventually, Lapis made herself stop and take a breath before speaking normally again.

"I'm sorry I kissed you last night." She began slowly. "I wasn't thinking and did something stupid. Its just that... I've liked you for a really long time, maybe since the day we first met, and I got caught up in the moment. I know it must be weird for you, especially since we're both girls. But you're the only one who's ever really cared about me and I guess I got carried away."

Peridot felt nauseous and her legs were weak. Had she heard correctly? Was what Lapis was saying really true? She flicked her eyes upward and saw the sincerity in her eyes that told her it was true. She could feel excitement bubbling in the pit of her stomach, which only made her nausea worse, yet she didn't want the feeling to end.

"Y-You... I..." Peridot couldn't get words to form in her mouth, it was so dry. Lapis began to back away looking hurt and distraught, like Peridot had slapped her across the face and she could burst into tears any minute.

"You're angry with me, I see that. I-I'll just go. I'm sorry I said anything, you don't have to come over anymore." She backed away more and smacked her forehead. "I'm so stupid! Why did I ever think this was a good idea!? Of course it would be this way, it always is for me, I-"

"Yes!" Peridot hastily choked out before Lapis could continue her rambling. Lapis stopped and turned to her, gaping. Peridot shifted her eyes away and stood rigid, her face burning more than it ever had before. "To... to the question you asked earlier. I'm saying y-yes."

Lapis furrowed her brow. "To the...?" Her face lit up when she realized what Peridot was talking about. "Really? You mean it?"

"Would I have said it if I didn't?" Peridot huffed and folded her arms. "Honestly, sometimes I wonder-"

She was cut off when she was pulled into a rib crushing hug and a pair of lips were smashed roughly against her's. It took a moment for her to register what was happening, but when she did she tore her head away and weakly pushed on the girl's chest.

"L-Lapis!" She shrieked. The force of the assault had stolen her breath away and knocked her glasses askew. She was panting as she stared dumbfounded at Lapis's idiotic grin. Whatever she did caused Lapis to throw her head back laughing and she glared at her.

"I'm sorry!" Lapis said between giggles. "I'm just really happy."

Peridot softened her expression. She couldn't help but agree with her. Her was heart was fluttering and her body was warm. She felt like she could melt into Lapis's arms right now and she would be completely content. This was probably one of the best experiences she's ever had and she wanted to enjoy it for as long as possible.

"You apologize too much." With that she closed the distance between them in a much softer, sweeter kiss, sliding her arms up Lapis's chest and wrapping them around her neck. She felt Lapis smile against her lips and pull her closer.

It definitely _was_ worth it.

* * *

(A/N: I have returned, yay! The StevenBomb was fun, right? I know it was for me. It took me a while to get this chapter right but I think I got it the way I wanted. It's difficult because I haven't had much experience with romance (I haven't even kissed anyone before) so I was pretty much winging it the entire time. I hope it came out okay and that you enjoyed it! Thanks for all the reviews and such, they really do mean a lot to me. I'm sorry I can't update regularly but I try ;u; Also I'm going to be posting a new story sometime this week, so stalk me to find it! Later, my pretties~)


	13. Chapter 13

Peridot closed her notebook and slid it into her backpack when the bell rang signalling that she could go to lunch. There was loud chatter from the students around her as they got up to leave, but it didn't bother her as much as it usually did. In fact, there wasn't a lot that bothered her today. She woke up with a pleasantness that stuck with her all morning. It was like the world had become a little brighter for her and there was nothing that could dim her mood. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and exited the classroom. She strained her neck to see over people's heads and found Jasper waiting in the hallway and made her way over to her.

"Hey, nerd!" Jasper greeted as she ruffled her hair. "Did you bring the shit?"

Peridot reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bag of fruit snacks before tossing them to her. It seemed to surprise Jasper, because her eyes widened and she wasn't able to catch them.

"You actually brought me some?"

"You said you wanted them." Peridot said with a smirk as she combed her fingers through her hair. Jasper chuckled and bent down to pick up the package.

"Hey, you're wearing your old shoes." She commented as she stood up straight and shoved a few of the snacks into her mouth. Peridot looked down at her white sneakers with poorly painted flames on the sides. These were the shoes she had in middle school when she was convinced that flames made everything look cooler. They were tacky as hell, but it was all she had. She had tried looking for her boots and, again, she couldn't find them anywhere. It was like an animal really had ran off with them! It sucked, too, because her black combat boots made her look way more awesome. They even had a compartment in the heel so you could install wheels and turn them into heelys. She frowned at her old shoes and looked back up to Jasper.

"I don't know where my other ones went."

"What do you mean you don't know where they went?" Before she had a chance to answer, Jasper suddenly grabbed her shoulder and shook her back and forth. "Oh, dude! What happened over the weekend? You never texted me back! Were you able to proclaim your love to Lapis?"

As soon as she heard Lapis's name, butterflies started flapping in her stomach. Images of the other girl flashed through her head and she swore she could feel Lapis kissing her right now. A pleasant chill ran down her spine and the corners of her lips twitched into a smile. She was pulled back to reality when Jasper snapped her fingers in front of her face.

"Hello? I asked you a question."

"Huh? Oh, right..." Peridot blinked but the smile stayed plastered to her face. Her eyes flicked behind Jasper for a split second and she saw Ruby and Sapphire walking together. Her smile grew bigger and she frantically waved and called to them. When they noticed her, they stopped in their tracks and gave each other confused looks. Peridot normally didn't acknowledge them unless they were standing right in front her, but now she was trying to get their attention when they were at the other end of the hall. Ruby smiled and waved to her awkwardly before Sapphire tugged Ruby's hand and quickly led them around a corner.

Peridot turned back to Jasper who was staring at her in disbelief. Before she had a chance to ask what was wrong, Jasper's hand flew up and slapped her across the face. Peridot yelped and staggered a bit from the force of the impact.

"What the hell!?" She shouted as she cupped her stinging cheek with her hand. Her smile was replaced with a scowl and her joy replaced with anger.

"You were smiling and it was scaring me!"

"So you hit me!?"

"I didn't know what else to do! I thought something was wrong with you!" Jasper yelled in her defense. She stepped forward to see if she was okay but Peridot slapped her away.

"I'm fine! People generally smile to show they're doing alright, not the other way around! What, I'm not allowed to be happy?"

"Not that happy!" Peridot glared at her and Jasper rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry, I didn't mean to ruin your mood or whatever. Why are you so happy, anyway? Usually you're pissed at everything but today you're practically puking rainbows and sunshine."

Peridot grumbled and lowered her hand. She _was_ really happy today and she had a good idea of what it was. Just thinking about it made her heart pound in her chest and she found herself smiling again. She wasn't quite accustomed to this feeling yet and it was such an incredible feeling she felt like she couldn't contain herself!

"I... I kissed her!" Peridot said with a huge grin.

"What!?" Jasper's eyes bulged and she shook Peridot's shoulder again. "Are you serious!? How!? What happened, man, don't leave me in the dark!"

Peridot pushed Jasper's hands away, then told her everything that happened over the course of the past couple of days while they walked to the cafeteria for lunch. She may have exaggerated a few things and left out some embarrassing parts (like how she almost fell out a window) but she gave her most of the information. Jasper listened intently as she explained Lapis's dad and how she had to hide in the closet from him all night.

"Well, now I feel kinda bad for hitting you. You've already been through so much." Jasper sighed and shook her head. "I really don't like this Paul-guy. Do you think I could come over sometime and beat him with a baseball bat?"

"I would love if you did that, honestly. But, no, you can't. We'll just have to hope the clod gets hit by a bus or something." Peridot said, and took a sip of her soda.

"Yeah." Jasper chuckled. "But, hey, at least something good came out of all that! Lapis said she might hightail it outta there and now she's your girlfriend."

Peridot spit out her drink and went into a coughing fit. A few people at neighboring tables turned their way and she frantically grabbed napkins to wipe off the table and front of her sweater. She couldn't believe Jasper just said that!

"S-She's not my _girlfriend!_ " She cried as she wiped the stickiness off her chin.

"What? Of course she is, you just told me you guys kissed because you like each other." Jasper said laughing.

"Well, _yeah,_ but we haven't... we haven't specifically said that we're... you know! Besides, I-I can't do something like that... It's not my thing." Peridot insisted, averting her eyes. She did like that thought of being called Lapis's girlfriend, but she would never admit that out loud. She still had a few conflicting feelings about the fact that she was attracted to a girl, even if that girl made her really happy.

"Peridot, I'm sure you're having a hard time realizing this, but you're more into romance than you think. Remember that movie we watched at Pearl's house last month? The one where that guy was trying to get that blind chick to fall in love with him? You were crying through most of it."

"I wasn't crying! My eyes just got a little watery when the dog died..."

"The dog didn't even die until the end!" Jasper pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, the point is, you should make things official with her. It'll make you both happy!"

Peridot was about to respond when Pearl and Amethyst suddenly appeared at their table. They were both arguing so loudly, she was surprised she hadn't heard them approaching. "...ryone voted and Swan Lake won, Amethyst! I don't see what your problem is!" Pearl said, sitting down next to Peridot in a huff. Amethyst took her seat next to Jasper, carelessly tossing her tray of food on the table as she did so.

"Swan Lake is _lame._ It's over-used and it sucks! If I'm going to be forced into helping with the props, I want it to be at least fun! Why can't you guys do something cooler, like uh... not that?"

"It's a classic and admired by people all over the world. Besides, we've been planning and rehearsing this for months, we can't just change it! I don't know why you're acting so surprised. If you had been listening to anything I've been telling you since the drama club decided on doing this, you would know! What did you think I meant every time I mentioned it!?"

"I thought it was a fancy dance move I didn't know about!" Amethyst yelled.

Jasper and Peridot glanced at each other nervously as they continued to bicker. Even if Peridot was comfortable with discussing their previous conversation while her other friends were around, she doubted she would be able to concentrate. Jasper quirked her eyebrow and shrugged, indicating that she didn't know what to do either. She sighed and decided to finish her lunch as she thought about what Jasper had said.

* * *

Peridot used her phone camera as a mirror as she stood outside Lapis's house fixing her hair. She was nervous, for more than one reason. After the whole love confession thing, Lapis said she had to go because her dad wanted her to do extra chores for 'acting out' the night before. Reluctantly, Peridot let her go, which she was glad she did because Paul had come home early to make sure she had done those ridiculous chores. But because of that, she hadn't seen her since yesterday. And now that Jasper had brought up the issue of actually _dating_ her, it made her even more anxious. She couldn't stand out here all day, though. She either needed to go inside or go home. She bite the inside of her cheek and decided she would rather see Lapis now than stay home worrying about it all day.

She took off her shoes and put them in her backpack before setting it next to the door. She didn't want to lose these shoes like her other ones and if they were in her heavy backpack it would be harder for a raccoon or squirrel to take them. She made sure her backpack wouldn't fall over, even commanding it to stay as if it were a dog, and opened the door.

The house was silent so she went straight to Lapis's room. She found her asleep and quietly went to her bed. She gazed down at her sleeping form and her heartbeat quickened. Although most of Lapis's face was covered by her blanket, Peridot couldn't help but stare at her. Her cheeks were flushed and her blue hair was tousled over her forehead. She looked so innocent, how could Peridot get anxious about seeing her? She was so cute...

Whoops, her mind was wandering off without her again!

She turned her eyes away, flustered. She needed to calm herself down before waking Lapis up. The pictures on Lapis's wall suddenly seemed very interesting to her. She's never had much interest in art, but she liked to admire Lapis's work simply because it was her's. There was one picture with a little orange fish poking its head out between pink coral. Another was a dolphin splashing out of the ocean, the water glistening in the sunlight around it. Her favorite was probably the one that depicted a brightly colored jellyfish against a dark background, making it look as if it were glowing. She had seen these paintings dozens of times before, but it still fascinated her that Lapis had painted them. The linework, colors, and proportions of everything were so well executed they looked almost realistic. Peridot had little to no artistic talent. Every time she picked up a paintbrush her art would turn out looking like a giant blob of color.

Her eyes traveled across the room and spotted the completed painting of the mermaid she had seen the first day she met Lapis. She walked over to it so she could get a better look. She could see why it had taken Lapis so long to finish it, there was so much more detail in this one than the others. Peridot gently ran her fingertips over it, expecting to feel the water, that's how real it looked. She could even see loose strands of blonde hair floating around the mermaids head. The mermaid had a beautiful emerald tail that matched her eyes. It was funny, the hair and eye color almost looked liked her own.

Peridot squinted her eyes and looked closer at the mermaid. Now that she was looking more closely, it _was_ her hair and eye color! And she could see similarities in the mermaid's face and her own. The cheek bones, nose, lips, they were all the same! Was it suppose to be her...?

"Do you like it?"

Peridot jumped and spun around to see Lapis sitting up in bed. She had tried to be quiet, but Lapis must've woke up anyway. How long had she been watching her?

"I-It's nice!" Peridot said smiling nervously. "But... uh..." She trailed off, not sure how to ask if the mermaid was suppose to be her or if it was pure coincidence. What if she sounded conceited and Lapis got mad at her? Artists were so sensitive about their art! Somehow, Lapis had been able to guess what her question was and answered it anyway.

"I hope you don't mind." She bit her lip. "I just thought you were pretty and... it seemed to fit."

Peridot's cheeks burned bright red. Lapis thought she was pretty? Pretty enough to paint? She turned back to the painting to observe it more. It did fit really well... She never thought she would enjoy seeing herself in a painting like this. Someone thought that she, one of the most plain looking people in the world, was pretty enough to set into a painting. And not just anybody, _Lapis_ thought that, which made her feel even more special! Maybe she felt a little too special, because she accidentally said something really stupid.

"N-No! No, I don't mind! After all, we're girlfriends, right?" She instantly regretted saying that, especially when Lapis froze with wide eyes and she was silent. Peridot wanted to say something to fix what she said, but a part of her **_really_** wanted to know what the answer was, so she held herself back. Instead, she cracked her knuckles and shoved her shaky hands into her sweater pockets, shifting her eyes to the wall. Finally, Lapis gave her a small smile and looked down at her blanket.

"Y-Yeah... Yeah, I-I guess we are."

Peridot broke out into a huge grin. There was a warm fuzziness that radiated throughout her whole body and made the tips of her fingers tingle. Making things official did make her feel a lot better! She was so happy she felt like running to Lapis and throwing her arms around her at that very moment! But she didn't, because something was off. Lapis didn't seem as happy as she was. She kept her head downcast with a small frown. Peridot took a cautious step toward her. "Hey, are you alright?" She asked.

Lapis's head snapped up and she smiled weakly. "Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine! I'm just really tired." She rubbed her eyes and offered a thin laugh as if to prove it. "I was up all night refolding the laundry because Dad didn't like the way I had done it before."

Relief washed over Peridot and she laughed. Although she was irritated that Lapis was up all night because of something stupid, she was glad nothing serious had happened. It was just drowsiness, nothing to worry about. Besides, she was starting to look more cheerful and now that they were technically dating, things would only get better.

But Lapis still acted tired throughout the whole day. And the few days that followed after that. She appeared sluggish and didn't have very much interest in the things she was normally interested in. She seemed distant and she didn't smile as much. The glint in her eyes that Peridot loved so much didn't seem to be there and it was starting to worry her. She was afraid that maybe she was doing something wrong.

Maybe Lapis was acting weird because Peridot wasn't being romantic like she was suppose to. It was an obligation for her to switch from platonic to romantic actions because of their new relationship, right? That's how it seemed to work in movies and books. She wasn't sure what she was suppose to do exactly, but she knew that people did things like holding hands and kissing. That didn't seem too hard.

She was _wrong._

People on TV always made it look so easy! But every time Peridot would try holding hands, she would slowly inch her hand toward's Lapis, get extremely nervous and pull her hand away before Lapis saw anything. And the few times she did manage to get a hold of Lapis's hand, it felt stiff like she wasn't comfortable with it. Peridot was sure it was because her hand was probably sweaty and gross. So she tried something else. Before she left for her own house, she would try to kiss Lapis's cheek goodbye. That ended up being a failure, too. She had to stand on her tiptoes just to do it and she was clumsy. It was more like a peck than a kiss and she always felt Lapis tense up and cringe ever so slightly.

It didn't make sense to her. The first couple of times they kissed it didn't seem to be a problem. She's always been a little awkward so that didn't surprise her (although that might be part of the problem), but something was different. Maybe it was because those times Lapis had been the one to begin the contact? But, now, Lapis barely did anything to start something like that.

Peridot panicked and thought that maybe Lapis didn't really want to have this relationship. Maybe she realized Peridot wasn't as great as she thought and was regretting her decision. But if that was the case, why did she say things like "I love you" to her? Albeit, she would sound a little despondent and hesitant when she said it. What was going on...?

Then it hit her one day when she was laying on her bed staring up at the ceiling. It wasn't her fault for the way Lapis was acting! It was Lapis's dad! He must be doing something to her that she isn't telling her about! She bolted out of bed and out her front door. She was so worried she didn't even grab her shoes, which was ruining her favorite pair of socks as she ran across the yard, but she didn't care. She threw open the door to Lapis's house and found her sitting on the couch doing homework. Lapis looked up, gaping at Peridot's frantic entrance. Peridot stomped over to her and grabbed her wrists, turning them over and looking up and down her arms.

"Whoa, what are you-" She pulled her arms back and Peridot tugged down the collar of her shirt. She tried to push her arm away, but Peridot just grabbed her chin and turned it back and forth to check her face. "P-Peridot, what are you doing?"

"Checking you." She said bluntly as she furrowed her brow.

"Checking me for what?"

"Bruises, scratches, anything!"

"Wha-"

"I know what's been happening, Lazuli." Peridot said firmly. She grabbed her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes, which were full of confusion and alarm. "You've been depressed and I know it's because of your dad! What has he been doing to you?"

"My dad? He hasn't done anything to me!"

"Don't-"

"Listen to me!" Lapis cried. Peridot pressed her lips together tightly to keep herself from saying anymore. She let go of her shoulders and stood back, folding her arms across her chest. She assumed that Lapis was about to tell her how her dad did something horrible and then find a way a justify it. She was surprised when she told her different. "My dad hasn't done anything... He's actually been nicer than usual. In fact, he won't even be here for a few days because he's leaving tomorrow for a business trip."

Peridot slowly lowered her arms and frowned. "Then... Then why have you been acting weird?" Lapis sighed and lifted her textbook from her lap, setting it on the coffee table. She scooted over to allow Peridot to sit next to her, and bit her lip before speaking.

"I'm not sure this is going to work..."

Peridot felt the blood drain from her face and her mouth suddenly felt dry. Oh, no! It was her fault! She swallowed and shakily pushed her glasses up her nose. "W... What do you mean?"

"What if... What if something happens?" Lapis said looking to Peridot. "What if my dad finds out about us? I have this feeling like something bad is going to happen and it's too much for me to handle. Nothing ever goes right for me and I'm afraid this might be one of those things..."

Peridot paused. It wasn't her fault; it wasn't anybody's fault. Lapis was insecure, just like she was. She softened her expression and moved closer. "Lapis... Nothing bad is going to happen."

"What if it does?" Lapis looked up, her eyes full of tears that looked like they could spill over any minute. "Maybe it would just be better if we stopped seeing each other altogether. I don't want to get too attached to you and then have to give you up. I would rather rip you off like a band-aid and get it over with than watch you slowly being torn away from me."

Peridot couldn't believe what she was hearing. Lapis didn't want to see her anymore...? She began to inwardly panic. Her body felt numb and she couldn't remember how to breathe. She clenched her fists in an attempt to calm herself down. "It's going to be okay-"

"No, it isn't." Lapis moaned. "You haven't been too enthusiastic lately either. I can see that you're already starting to get bored, and soon you're going to leave."

"Thats not true!" Peridot shook her head vigorously. "I've only been that way because I thought you weren't happy around me! Why would I get bored of you?"

"Because I'm not fun or important..."

"No, no, Lapis, you're wrong." Peridot wracked her brain for a way to fix this. She needed to prove to Lapis that things could work and not be so bad. She was smart, she could think of something. Suddenly, an idea hit her. "I know! You said your dad is leaving tomorrow for a few days, right?" Lapis nodded. "We can spend more time together then! I'll even spend the night, since I don't have school tomorrow. Just let me show you that everything will be okay."

"Y-You'd do that?" Lapis asked, her eyes brightening a bit.

"Yeah... Yeah, I would." Peridot said smiling. Lapis wiped her eyes with her hands and leaned over to give Peridot a hug. Peridot wrapped her arms tightly around her and sighed. She finally felt like she understood what love was. It wasn't something that happened easily like media portrays. Love takes time, and it takes work. You weren't suppose to do things for someone because it was an obligation, you should do them because that's what feels right. Right now, everything felt right. Peridot turned her head and pressed her lips gently to Lapis's temple. Now she could show her love in the right way. Everything was going to be just fine.

* * *

(A/N: I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THIS CHAPTER BEING SO LATE BUT HERE IT IS

Now there are a lot of things I need to address, so I'll try to keep it short and sweet so you all can get back to your lives.

A lot of people keep commenting about how well I have written out the characters and their stories. I think some of you will be interested to know that it all comes from personal experience. I have been in each other the main characters situations (lapis, peridot, and jasper). Just a cool bit of information. Moving on~

Someone drew fanart for this story! GrimsDale was nice enough to inform me of the awesome artwork Treker402 did! Treker is an amazing artist and I love everything she does, I would suggest following her on Tumblr! Something happened to my account a while back and I haven't had the chance to make a new one, but whenever I get around to it, I'll be sure to follow you, Trek! And if anybody else wants to do fanart for this, please feel free to do so. It would honestly make me so happy. Just tag it #TGND and maybe I'll find it, if not, you can PM me. I've been wanting to draw a cover photo for this story, but I'm so busy with my other art I haven't had time, so if someone wants to do that, that would be awesome. (only do it if you WANT to though, I don't want anyone to feel obligated)

Lastly, and most importantly, I wouldn't have been able to write this chapter if it weren't forTheRainbowPyro17! They were the one who gave me the idea for this, so you can thank them for this and another chapter or two. Seriously, know how I want this story to end but I had no idea how to get there, and they gave me the perfect idea. If it wasn't for them, this probably would've gone downhill.

So thanks for reading! I never thought this fanfic would become so popular, you all make me so happy. The next chapter will be suuuper fluffy, so you can look forward to that whenever I post it. I'm always so busy ;u; thanks again~)


	14. Chapter 14

_Knock knock knock_

Peridot lowered her arm and shifted her weight from foot to foot as she clutched the handle of her duffle bag tightly. Despite the slight breeze outside, her forehead and palms felt moist with perspiration and she was tempted to pull off her sweater.

She was nervous.

Which would probably explain why she was knocking on the door instead of walking in like she normally did. It didn't make sense. She had been to Lapis's house plenty of times before, there was no reason for her to be _this_ nervous. It would be like every other time she had been over here. They would hang out, play a few games, maybe watch a movie...

Except this time she would be spending the night.

She's spent the night here too, though. They've even shared a bed together. Of course, that time was completely by accident while this was actually planned.

Maybe that's what was making her nervous. The fact that they had planned this. Meaning there was no way of backing out without hurting her girlfriend's feelings. Not that she wanted to back out. She was the one who suggested this, after all. She set this whole thing up so she could cheer Lapis up while her dad was away. She told her mom not to expect her home tonight, finished all of her homework and planned out a bunch of activities for her and Lapis to do. She even packed up half her room to bring over so she wouldn't have to go back and forth between houses for anything. It would be just the two of them for a few days. Together. Alone.

Oh God, she hoped she didn't screw this up. She _needed_ to show Lapis that their relationship could work. If she didn't, Lapis would stop talking to her and everything would be over and she would feel awful and she would have to explain what happened to Jasper and she didn't feel like doing that and it was so hot outside she wanted to take off her sweater but she really liked her sweater and-

"Peridot?"

"Hm?" She snapped her head up when her inner ramblings were interrupted by Lapis opening the door. Lapis swept her eyes over Peridot and glanced around outside curiously before furrowing her brow.

"The door was unlocked, you know. You didn't have to knock."

"Oh. R-Right." Peridot averted her eyes in embarrassment and tentatively stepped inside. She slowly looked around, taking in her surroundings. Everything looked the same as it always does. She's been here before, it was all familiar, and she would be staying here for a few days. It was no problem. She could do this. Everything would be fine.

"So, what do you want to do?" Lapis asked as she sat on the couch.

"Oh! Um..." Peridot hastily set down her duffle bag and unzipped it to take out items as she spoke. "I brought all kinds of stuff for us to do! I have my PlayStation and my Xbox, along with two DS's—don't ask why I have two of them, it's a long story involving Jasper and bees—and a bunch of two player games. They're mostly fighting games but I have a few different ones if we get bored of those. I also have a lot of movies. Like a _lot._ Some of them aren't even mine, but the clod refuses to take them home so they've been in my room since forever. They're mostly sci-fi, because I really like sci-fi, so they have a lot to do with aliens, but not those generic aliens that just abduct people for no reason. _These_ aliens are much more interesting and have more depth to them. I also brought this! The entire series of Camp Pining Hearts! You have no idea how hard it was for me to find this show on DVD. I had to practically tear apart the whole internet because, not only is it an old show so it's mostly on VHS, but it's not popular either! I don't know why more people don't like this, it's literally the best! I can't wait to show you the canoe race when... w-when- what?"

She paused when she looked up and saw Lapis watching her in a strange way. She had leaned forward with her elbows on her knees, her chin resting in her hands, and a small smile playing on her lips. Peridot realized that she had been rambling again, this time out loud, and started to apologize. But the words got caught in her throat when she saw deep blue eyes gazing at her in a fond way that made her flustered, yet she couldn't stop staring. It was intense and she hardly ever saw Lapis look at her that way. She was only able to break eye contact when Lapis blinked and sat up straight.

"Nothing." She said with that same soft smile. "Why don't you choose what to do? I'm still not good with this kinda stuff."

"Uh, okay..." Peridot said, still in a bit of a daze. She quickly pushed that feeling aside and began pulling out cords to set up her PlayStation, judging it would be best to start with something exciting. In just a few minutes she had the entire thing plugged in and turned on, ready for use. She was browsing through her games trying to choose one they should play, when Lapis came into the living room with two plates in her hand.

"Are you hungry?" Lapis asked pleasantly.

"You-" Peridot sat back and did a double take. When did Lapis go to the kitchen and why hadn't she noticed? Now Lapis had gone out of her way to get her food even though she was fine without it. She felt a little guilty, like she was burdening Lapis somehow. "You didn't have to do that."

"I don't mind. I was getting myself some anyway. It's cheesecake." Lapis told her, trying to sweeten the deal (literally). She glanced between Lapis and the offered plate. Peridot hated to admit it, but she had a horrible sweet tooth and already her mouth was watering from the thought of that creamy slice of heaven. Gingerly, she took it and mumbled out a 'thank you' while Lapis sat down to eat her own piece.

Peridot put in a game for them to play, handed Lapis the second controller and sat next to her on the couch. She looked at Lapis out of the corner of her eye while she began to eat her cake. It was a little strange. Lapis's mood seemed to have changed completely from the day before. She seemed more animated and alert. Peridot was sure she would have to tiptoe around her today so she wouldn't upset her any more, but there Lapis was smiling and laughing and kicking her ass at Gem Buster.

Maybe it was because of this. Being able to relax all day without worrying about her dad coming home. Peridot admitted that she felt a lot more comfortable knowing that there was little to no chance of her being kicked out of the house unexpectedly. It made the atmosphere feel... looser. Like an invisible weight had been lifted from them and they could do things more freely.

It affected them both. Peridot didn't feel as nervous anymore and Lapis was opening up more than she had ever seen. She was acting more confident and carefree, like it had always been this way and it wouldn't end. Peridot found that she was enjoying the way things were going and was completely at ease. They both finished their snack and got more competitive with each other at video games. Lapis was actually proving to be a bit of a challenge and Peridot was surprised that she was losing rounds that she normally would be able to win. They switched games often so they wouldn't get bored with just one, and soon they were shouting in victory and defeat with each match.

Peridot didn't know how or when it happened, but she suddenly realized that Lapis's head was laying in her lap. It stunned her that she hadn't noticed and was momentarily distracted from her game, making her character falter so Lapis was able to kill her.

"Yes, head shot!" Lapis said, fist pumping. Her voice vibrated on Peridot's thighs and trailed down to her legs, leaving a pleasant tingle behind. She couldn't help the tiny shiver that ran through her body, which didn't go unnoticed by the other girl.

"You okay?"

Peridot nodded and squirmed a little, hoping the redness of her cheeks wouldn't be noticed. "I'm fine. Maybe we should play a different game, though."

Lapis rolled onto her back so she could look up at her. "Are you sure? We've only done half a round."

"I-I know, but I don't like this game that much." That was a lie, this was actually one of her favorites, but she needed some sort of excuse. Lapis looked towards all the various game cases on the floor from the previous ones they played.

"There aren't a lot left to choose from." She stated.

Peridot realized she was right. They had been playing so much that there were very few left they hadn't already played. And the ones that were left were all the ones they had been avoiding so far because they weren't as fun. They could always replay some, but that didn't sound very appealing either. Peridot frowned and tried to decided if she should admit to lying and continue with their current game or switch out for a boring one. Before she could make her decision, Lapis sat up facing her and propped herself with one arm on either side of Peridot's hips, essentially trapping her against the couch.

"You know, if you're that bored already then maybe we should make things a little more... _interesting_." Lapis said, stressing the last word so it sounded almost seductive.

"What... What do you mean?" Peridot could feel her cheeks growing warmer with how close the other girl's face was to her's. Lapis bit down into the soft flesh of her lower lip and Peridot would have shot forward to capture those lips between her own if Lapis's piercing gaze hadn't kept her in place. Is this what she was like without her dad's cruelty looming over her head? It was almost... bad.

And Peridot _liked_ it.

"We'll make a bet." Lapis said, leaning back and nodded towards their game. "If I win this next round then... I get to paint your nails."

Peridot gasped. She hated having her nails painted! It always made her fingertips feel heavier and she felt like she had to be extra careful with everything she touched. They took forever to dry and it interfered with her typing and it was hard to get off her nails and was altogether just awful. She held her hands against her chest protectively as if Lapis was holding a bottle of nail polish right now, completely forgetting about her previous infatuation with Lapis's new attitude.

"No!"

"Aw, c'mon, it'll be fun!" Lapis sat back with a smile. "You'll get to choose what you want if you win."

Peridot narrowed her eyes. "Anything I want?"

"Yep."

She thought about this for a moment. What would she want from Lapis? There were lots of things she could think of, most of them having to do with clothing removal, but that might be going a little too fast for their relationship. She could always force Lapis into being her slave for a day or something, but that seemed unfair given her current living situation. Free painting of whatever she wanted? No, Lapis would probably do that for her without a bet.

Maybe she could use this opportunity to get Lapis to open up and talk about her past. With the good mood she's been in today, it seemed unlikely that she would get too upset with her for asking. Of course, there was always the off chance that she wouldn't remember much like she's been saying. But she had to remember at least a few things, right? It was worth a shot.

"If I win, you have to tell me a secret about yourself."

Lapis looked stunned for a minute but quickly changed to a smirk. "A secret, eh? About what?"

"I'll think about it after I win." Peridot said with a smug tone. She was starting to get more excited about this bet and wanted to show Lapis that she was up for any challenge. Lapis just smiled wider, picked up her controller and adjusted herself so she was sitting cross-legged on the couch.

"You're on!"

Peridot started up a new match for them and made sure to select the hardest map so it would be fair for both of them. Although, she had all the confidence in her abilities. This was one of her favorites, after all. She's stayed up for hours playing this game, unlocking all the best items, finding all the cool easter eggs. She would clear this easily.

This was proven true while she was effortlessly scoring points. She turned and saw Lapis struggling with her eyebrows knit tightly together as she did her best to press all the right buttons. She was mostly button mashing like the newbie she was. Ha, Peridot was totally going to wi-

"Yes!"

Peridot jerked her head back to the screen just in time to watch her character explode into a million pieces. For a moment all she could do was stare while Lapis jumped up and did a small victory dance. She had to let her brain comprehend what had just happened before she started frantically slapping her controller with her palm.

"What!? No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!" She threw her controller down and pulled at her hair, which made Lapis laugh loudly. "How did that even happen!? What did you do!?"

"Grenades are a beautiful thing." Lapis explained while grabbing Peridot's hands and pulling her up from the couch. "But not as beautiful as you're gonna be with painted nails. C'mon, I'm giving you a full manicure!"

Peridot groaned and pouted while she stumbled limply up from the couch. She was definitely not happy about this. Not only did she lose the bet and wouldn't be getting any information from Lapis, but she had to have her nails painted. With icky, chemical smelling nail polish. If only she hadn't been distracted by Lapis's button mashing. Yeah, that was it. It was all her fault.

"Don't be like that, Peri." Lapis leaned forward and placed a kiss on the side of her mouth. It was very light and quick but it was enough to pull Peridot out of her tantrum. Peridot blushed and grumbled a bit, but otherwise followed Lapis into her room so she could gather all her nail supplies. After all, it couldn't _completely_ be her fault.

"So, what color do you want?" Lapis said settling all her supplies on the dining room table. Peridot gave an exaggerated sigh and folded her arms.

"Um..." Her eyes scanned over all the colors that were laid before her. Lapis had a wide range of colors, the majority of them being blue. None of them looked appealing, though. Some of them were glittery and a lot of them had weird names that gave her no indication of what the actual color was, and she definitely didn't want to walk around with something that had a name like _Dreamy Bikini_ on her nails. "Don't you have any green or yellow?"

"Ew, no, yellow's gross." Lapis grimaced, but reached across the table and picked up a light teal looking color. "What about this?"

The label read "Seafoam," a much more normal name than the other ones. She supposed if she was forced to have her nails painted like this, she would rather have this color. She reluctantly nodded her head and slumped down in a chair so Lapis could get to work.

"So," Lapis began as she gently filed the tips of Peridot's nails. "What was it you were going to ask me if you won?"

Peridot shrugged. "I hadn't thought about it yet, remember?"

"Well, you can think about it now."

"But I didn't win."

"I'll answer you anyway." Lapis looked up from her hand and gave her a small smile. Peridot was confused and wanted to protest about rules being rules, but held herself back. If Lapis wanted to give her a free pass then who was she to complain?

"I was just a little curious about why you and your dad moved here." She said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. Lapis flinched and stopped what she was doing to briefly glance up at her before going back to her nails.

"How do you know we moved here?"

Peridot could tell that Lapis was bothered, but she didn't know if it was because of the question itself or the fact she had mentioned her dad. She started cautiously so she wouldn't make it worse. "My mom... knew that you had moved here and told me about it. But she didn't know much, so I thought I'd ask. If you don't mind."

Lapis seemed to relax a little. "Oh. Well, we moved here when I was young, so I don't remember much of our old house. I hardly even remember when we moved."

"You don't remember anything?" Peridot asked, frowning as Lapis began to apply the nail polish.

"Pretty much." She said bitterly. "I mean, there are little bits and pieces of things. Like, I remember looking out of a window and seeing a bird, but nothing really important."

"Oh." Peridot was a little disappointed. She was hoping Lapis would remember more, but it looked like she got her hopes up for nothing. She was no closer to finding out Lapis's past than before, which seemed to be a mystery to both of them. They were silent for a while, each of them lost in their own thoughts before Lapis spoke up again.

"There is _one_ important thing I remember."

"Really? What is it?"

"I remember..." Lapis looked up and stared off into the distance, as if she was watching the memory play out in front of her eyes. "being on a beach. I don't know where this beach was, but I remember it was really nice there. The sand was warm, the water was cool, and there was a pretty woman that gave me a seashell. I don't remember what she looked like, just that I thought she was pretty and she smelled like flowers..." She had a sad smile while she recalled everything. That smile fell and she narrowed her eyes. "I don't remember Dad being there, though... He must've been off somewhere. Anyway, I never saw the woman after that. Probably 'cause we moved a few days after that. And I only know that because I haven't been to the beach since that day. Dad thinks it's better for me to stay home, you know? Maybe that's why I like the beach so much; because it's the only thing I can remember from my childhood."

Peridot was glad that she was able to hear something from her past, even if it was something small, but it still didn't explain how Lapis got to be in this situation. "Why does your dad think it's better for you to be inside?"

"Well, you know, the public school systems aren't that great. And the kids and teachers there are even worse. Not that you and Jasper are bad." Lapis explained hastily. "But, generally, our peers are horrible. Being home schooled, I don't have to deal with crowded hallways or bullies or anything like that. So it is better for me in that regard."

"That makes sense." Peridot agreed. "But you never get out of the house. Ever. You've only been able to get out recently when you come to my house. What did you do before that?"

"I got out of the house. I went out to the backyard."

"Lapis, I don't think you're getting this. Your dad controls your entire life and doesn't let you do anything! He forces you to practically be his maid and if you mess up even a little he hits you! You have to sneak around just to be friends with me! Doesn't that bother you?" Peridot couldn't help raising her voice a little. She was frustrated and wanted to get through to her. Lapis sighed and looked up from Peridot's nearly finished nails.

"I've told you before, it's complicated. He's not... as bad as you think. Sure, he gets a little rough and strict, but he doesn't mean to. He has a few anger problems and loses his temper, but he always apologizes eventually. Sometimes he says it, sometimes he'll bring me a present, it all depends. But at the end of the day he still loves me, I know he does. I'm all the family he has left. My grandparents are dead, he doesn't have any siblings, and my mom died a long time ago. I can put up with him for a few more years."

"But do you _want_ to?" Peridot asked in a softer tone, realizing it really _was_ complicated. Her dad was sending her all kinds of mixed signals and Lapis was so confused she was only focusing on the positive ones, the ones he wanted her to believe. She was too blind to see that what he was doing was wrong and abnormal. She needed to focus on herself and her own well-being rather than her dad if she as going to get away from him. Peridot just needed to nudge her in the right direction.

Lapis paused for a moment, her eyes glazing over as she thought. She turned her attention back to Peridot's nails and did a few more final touches before smiling and sitting up. "There, all done. We just need to wait for them to dry. Why don't we watch TV while we wait?"

Peridot opened her mouth to complain but Lapis was already up and moving toward the living room. She was avoiding her question. Peridot had obviously struck something sensitive. Their day had been going so well, she didn't want to ruin it. At least now she understood everything and could act accordingly so she could get the girl she loved out of this horrible mess. Hopefully, Lapis understood some things a little better, too.

Peridot sighed and stood up to follow Lapis. She found her on the floor looking through all the movies she had brought. Lapis was clearly firm in her plans to avoid and forget about what they were discussing before. Peridot relented and sat next to her to look for something they could watch. Of course, she couldn't touch anything, but Lapis took out all the DVDs for them to look over. In the end, they chose to watch Camp Pining Hearts on Peridot's insistence of it being "the greatest show ever."

They both took their seats on the couch, but Lapis stayed a little ways from Peridot with her arms crossed over her chest. It concerned Peridot and she wondered if she had already ruined their day by asking too many questions. Lapis was probably mad at her and didn't want to sit close to her like she had before. Peridot started to miss the feeling of the other girl's head in her lap and she wished she could have that again. It upset her so much that she couldn't focus on anything, not even her favorite show, she just felt so awful.

Suddenly she felt a weight on her shoulder and turned to get a face-full of blue hair. It took her a moment to recognize that Lapis was leaning on her shoulder but when she did her stomach filled with flapping butterflies. Lapis must've come closer to her, meaning she wasn't mad at her! It made Peridot's heart flutter and she scooted closer and nuzzled the top of the soft head. She heard Lapis sigh contentedly and she smiled with satisfaction.

They were both happy and enjoyed their show. There were times when Peridot would need to pause it to explain what was going on to Lapis, but altogether it was fun. They hadn't even realized how late it was until the first DVD was done and they needed to get up to put in the next one.

"I didn't realize the time." Lapis said, though it didn't sound like a bad thing. It was refreshing that they didn't have to watch the clock in anticipation of intruding fathers. She started to sit up and stretch. "I should probably start dinner for us."

Peridot nodded her head and stretched as well, feeling a little hungry. Suddenly she remembered something and grabbed Lapis's arm to keep her in place.

"Wait!" Lapis gave her a confused and almost alarmed look, but Peridot ignored it. She felt bad that she was always forced to cook for her dad for who knows how long. And while she loved all the food Lapis made and would enjoy having some now, she wanted to give her a break. "I'll take care of dinner."

"You're gonna cook?" Lapis asked with a skeptical look, knowing fully well of Peridot's culinary abilities, which pretty much went as far as boiled water.

"Hell no." Peridot shifted herself so she could pull her phone out of her pocket. "I'm ordering pizza."

Lapis laughed but didn't object. In fact, she seemed excited as Peridot dialed the number (which was mildly difficult because of her stupid nails), and when she asked what toppings she wanted she practically ordered everything they had. Peridot didn't have a problem with this, but she had to draw the line at anchovies. Lapis pouted but didn't argue.

While they waited for the pizza to arrive, they played more video games and had just as much fun as they had before. Though Peridot rejected the idea of making bets again, especially when the bet included giving her a makeover. She shivered at the thought of having her face covered in pink sparkly stuff.

Soon their pizza came, Peridot paid for it and they both dove it. Lapis made a big show of her enjoyment of the pizza, claiming that it had been "so god damn long" since she had pizza. She took big bites, moaning loudly as she did so and then chewed very slowly so she could savor it. Peridot found it ridiculous and amusing at the same time and couldn't stop herself from laughing.

"Shut up!" Lapis shouted, being slightly offended. She picked up a stray olive and threw it at Peridot, landing directly in the middle of her forehead.

"Hey!" Peridot threw the olive back at her and laughed when it hit her in the shoulder. Lapis giggled and they got into a mini food fight throwing the same olive back and forth until it got lost under the couch somewhere. They spent the rest of their meal finishing off their pizza slices and giggling randomly from their earlier antics. Afterwards, they cleaned up and changed into pajamas so they could get ready for bed.

"Nice shorts." Lapis commented as Peridot came out of the bathroom. Peridot looked down at her white shorts with disgruntled alien faces printed on them. They were a little childish but she's had them since she was 13 and they were comfortable. She tugged her shirt down to cover them a bit.

"It's better than your shirt." She countered. Lapis looked down at her blue shirt with an overly cartoony witch with "WATER WITCH" in bold letters on the front. Lapis only shrugged.

"Whatever. Just get over here." She bounced on the couch and patted next to her for Peridot to sit down. Seeing that Lapis had already inserted the next Camp Pining Hearts DVD, she turned off the lamp and flopped down. The two of them used their blankets and pillows to make themselves comfortable and then pressed play to continue their Camp Pining Hearts marathon.

Halfway through one of the episodes, Lapis turned her head toward Peridot. "Thank you."

"Huh?" Peridot said, not moving her eyes the screen. She felt Lapis shift and move closer to the little blanket nest she made.

"I said thank you."

"For what?" Peridot turned her attention to Lapis.

"For today." Lapis said, playing with the hem of one of the blankets. "Being here with me and making me feel better. Even after I was distant with you for a while. I was just worried... about what might happen in the future with us."

"Are you still worried?" Peridot asked in a little over a whisper. Lapis shook her head.

"Not anymore. I know that you'll be there to help me and encourage me if I'm ever feeling bad. I saw all the effort you went through just to make sure I was happy. Like how you brought most of your stuff over, letting me paint your nails, even though you hated it, ordering pizza so I wouldnt have to cook. It was really sweet."

"Oh. Well, haha, yeah..." Peridot said sheepishly, wondering if everything she did was really that obvious. She didn't do all that stuff so she would be noticed and praised, she did it because that's what she thought you would help. She appreciated that Lapis was thanking her, though, so she smiled.

"I think I would rather stop worrying about the future, and focus on the present and what's happening right here, right now." Lapis untangled her hand from the blankets and threaded her fingers with Peridot's. It was a very gentle action but it made Peridot's breath hitch.

"Th-That sounds reasonable..."

Peridot looked at their hands and then turned her head up to meet deep blue eyes. Lapis face was mostly hidden in shadows with only the faint glow from the TV illuminating her cheeks, but Peridot could see that same intense look Lapis had throughout the day. It trapped her again, made her mind foggy and her heart pound in her chest. She didn't even notice Lapis's face inching slowly forward until she felt soft, pink lips brush against her own. It brought heat to her cheeks and she closed her eyes, kissing back. She gave a quiet noise of approval and Lapis took that as an invitation to press further.

They were slow at first, kissing each other firmly yet gently. It reminded Peridot of the first time they kissed, electrifying and mind-numbing. She felt like she couldn't get enough of it and only broke apart to twist her head into a better position. She moved her lips in time with the other pair, feeling as if she's been kissing Lapis her entire life and this was normal.

She was vaguely aware that at some point she had been gently pushed into the couch so she was laying on her back with Lapis hovering over her. Their actions became faster and more heated, but it still surprised Peridot when she felt a tongue tentatively poking at her lips. Slowly, she parted them and slipped her own tongue out to meet the other.

As soon as she felt the slick, velvety tongue it sent a shock of heat from her mouth to the pit of her stomach. It made her toes curl and she couldn't help the moan that escaped from her throat. She swirled her tongue with Lapis's and wrapped her arms around her neck to curl her fingers through blue locks. Somewhere along the line her glasses became askew and fell from her face but she didn't care.

All of her sense were flooded with one thing. All she could taste was Lapis, all she could feel was Lapis's hands on her waist, all she could smell was Lapis's sweet smell, all she could think about was _Lapis, Lapis, Lapis!_

"Peridot..." Lapis said before flicking her tongue against her teeth. It took Peridot a moment to recognize her name, her mind was so fogged by pleasure.

"Hm?" She hummed. She reached up to capture those lovely lips again but was stopped by Lapis pulling her head away. She made a small whine and looked up questioningly at her.

"I love you." Lapis said nervously but sincerely. It brought Peridot back to reality and she paused before smiling.

"I-I love you, too." They kissed one last time before Lapis snuggled her head into the crook of Peridot's neck. Peridot wondered if she could hear the rapid pounding in her chest.

She was so unbelievably happy right now, she felt like she might burst. This day had been perfect for her and she almost didn't want it to end. They still had a few more days until they had to go back to sneaking around. Peridot wanted to make those days the best of Lapis's life and she thought she knew exactly how to do that.

* * *

(A/N: whoops I accidentally went on hiatus again. But don't worry, I'm totally continuing this story to the end. I have no idea why this story is popular, I just got bored and decided to write a fanfic at one in the morning one time and then this happened. But all you lovely people like it so I'm continuing, although, sadly, there are only about 4 more chapters left.

I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter up. There's been so much going on with school and my cats getting sick and my friend getting into a car accident, it's been crazy. Every time I would get the chance to sit down and write, I would get about 2 paragraphs done before I'd have to get up and do something again, so I'm sorry if it sounded choppy and didn't flow right. I did my best. And I made sure to make this chapter super lengthy and fluffy to make up for it.

Thanks for all the encouraging reviews! They help me stay motivated and keep going with this story. Keep 'em up and I won't let you down ;u; also, if anybody's interested, I have a tumblr now. Check my profile for it.)


End file.
